Super Mario Bros: Origins
by Enterprise F
Summary: You've heard the tale and played the Yoshi's Island games that depict the origin of Mario and Luigi. Now see the true origins of the Mario Bros. Follow the adventures of Luca and Mia Mario as they enter the Mushroom Kingdom and race to rescue their children Mario and Luigi before they are taken out of reach permanently. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

Legal Disclaimer: Super Mario Bros. is copyright Nintendo. I do not own it, Nintendo does. It and all of its characters are the property of Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto.

Super Mario Bros. Origins

Chapter 1:

Luca Mario, a middle weight man in his mid twenties with brown hair, blue eyes, and a brown mustache watched excitedly as his wife, Mia, a blond-haired woman the same age as her husband with blue eyes exerted as she pushed to give birth to her baby. Doctors were standing around her, ushering Luca out of the way so that they could keep a close eye on his wife. He had been constantly at his wife's side as she had gone into labor and while he was loath to go, he did not want to be in the doctors' way. "Come on, baby, push!" he encouraged. "He's almost here!"

She wailed aloud as she pushed again to deliver the child. Despite the medical technology of Earth and the Galactic Federation, they, as well as almost everyone else on Earth, still delivered babies the natural way, only using Cesarean Section and other delivery options in the rare event where the mother or baby's life would be threatened by normal childbirth. Mia was no different, having delivered her first baby, Mario, the same way. "You're doing great," one of the doctors, Doctor Gibson, a well-known doctor and a friend of the family assured the young woman. "The baby's on its way, just keep pushing!"

"I'll do great when the baby's out!" Mia cried in retort. Despite the pain and effort, she would not have done this any other way and she would not trade it for anything.

The day had been hectic as soon as they had awakened. They were due for a checkup to make sure that the baby was healthy. Despite having numerous scans and ultrasounds performed, the young couple still preferred to have the sex of their baby kept a secret, just as it had been with Mario. They had just had breakfast when the first contractions had begun. That was the sign that the baby was coming, then. As such, they put down everything and headed towards the hospital, calling Luca's mother to come and watch Mario while they went to the hospital to have the baby delivered. They had already decided on the names of the baby. If it were a boy, they would name him Luigi. If it were a girl, she would be named Maria.

Mia gave another shout as she pushed once more. After this push, the sound of a baby crying could be heard. "I see the head," Luca exclaimed. The doctors rushed over and grabbed the baby's head to steady it. With one final push, the baby fully emerged from the mother's womb.

The sound of the baby's crying was joy to the ears of both Luca and Mia. They beamed as they stared at the baby boy. "Congratulations, it's a boy," Doctor Gibson told the mother.

Mia held her baby and stared at him as he continued to cry. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes. "Hello Luigi," she said softly, panting from having been in labor for so long.

The doctors quickly went over and cut Luigi's umbilical cord. Luca went over to his wife and looked into her eyes, his joy plastered on his face. He then turned to Luigi softly cooed, "Hi there, Luigi."

The baby's eyes opened and he looked both of his parents in the eyes. All Luca and Mia could do was grin. This was their second child, born exactly one year apart from their first one. They were filled with as much joy at the birth of Luigi as they were with Mario's birth. "When we're done here, you'll get to meet your big brother," Mia cooed to her child. She knew that he would not understand her, but the sound of her voice did give comfort to the baby and Luigi spread out his arms as if to hug his mother. The feeling of love in the air was palpable and it warmed the hearts of all that were present.

Meanwhile, off in the distance a ways away, two male orderlies glanced at the scene appraisingly. They wore the standard uniform of hospital orderlies but they had headbands that suspiciously covered the tops of their ears, positioned in just such a way that it could be seen as concealing their appearance. They carefully studied the two human parents and their child. One of them held a boxy hand-held device similar to a Star Trek Tricorder and reached out as if they were scanning the family. Lights flashed on the device and bars lit up but did not travel too far on the displays.

"It is a heartwarming scene," one of the orderlies, the taller one with blond hair said, looking over at his companion, who was still holding the device. "Humans have changed in the last six centuries."

"Their change came after their third world war," said the other orderly, this one having short brown hair, closing the device and putting it in his pocket. "On a whole, they have become far wiser and kinder."

The blond-haired 'orderly' nodded. "Yes." He then glanced over at his companion and asked, "Are the scans complete?"

"The first one is," the brown-haired 'orderly' answered.

"And?"

"And the boy does not appear to have any overt psychic powers, though the scans indicate that he may have a small amount of latent powers," came the answer.

"Many humans have some form of latent psychic power or ESP, even if it's only being a little more lucky than normal."

"It was no different with the older brother, either," the brown-haired 'orderly' answered.

"Are you sure that this child is one of the Chosen Ones?" the blond-haired man asked. "He does not seem to be all that special."

"Neither did the older baby," the brown-haired man. "Yet Mario is prophesied to be the fulcrum that will hold together one of the greatest groups of heroes in existence. We cannot let the Enemy get their hands on these children. If they did, it would be to the ruin of all."

The blond-haired man nodded and the two looked over at the child as two of the doctors took him into their arms, the father following behind them very closely as the other doctors looked over his wife. It was then that the blond-haired man frowned, which was reflected in his companion's face.

"Taking the children may be more difficult than imagined," the blond-haired man noted. "The parents will not part with the children willingly."

"We can worry about that if diplomacy fails," the brown-haired man answered. "There is still the possibility that we can keep the children away from The Enemy without having to separate them from their parents."

"Let's hope so, because if we can't, we're going to have a real fight on our hands."

"We can handle the parents."

"It's not the parents that I'm worried about, Sweylin," the blond-haired man stated anxiously.

As Luigi was taken to the nursery for his checkup, the two men glanced at each other and went to split up. Sweylin remained to keep watch on Mia while the blond-haired man followed Luca at a distance. The blond-haired man had misgivings about his mission here with the family. Still, he had a duty to perform and these children would be the center of what could be the most powerful force for good in the universe in a very long time, especially if the Trophies of Smash World were any indication.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. The rest of the Mario family arrived at different intervals to see the newborn baby. Luigi's aunts, uncles, grandparents on both sides of the family, and even the cousins came to see and adore the newest family member. The Mario family was incredibly close and aunts and uncles were like extra sets of parents for the children in the family, and the cousins were more akin to brothers and sisters.

Both Luca and Mia stayed in the hospital overnight, Luca sitting just outside the nursery, telling the doctors to label each baby, especially Luigi, so that he would never lose track of Luigi, as if such a thing could actually happen. He did not get much sleep that night as he continued to gaze at Luigi, making sure that everything was okay with his newest son.

The next day, the doctors performed one final check on both mother and child. Everything turned out to be fine for them and once the checkup was finished, Luigi was given back to the care of his parents. As Luca and Mia were preparing to depart, the doctors gave some last minute instructions to the parents. Once they were delivered, the parent went over to their car and departed the hospital to return home and introduce their newest son to his older brother.

Standing at a distance, Sweylin and his companion watched the couple walk through the relatively unoccupied parking lot. They went to their car, a ground car that, while running on electricity, was still relatively antiquated by modern standards, even for ground cars, and got in. Mia sat in the back right next to Luigi as Luca got into the front. He started the car and a low hum sounded as the engine started. The car backed out of the parking space and proceeded to exit the lot, going to the main street exiting the hospital.

"The parents care deeply for their child Sovan," Sweylin said, turning to his companion.

"That much is obvious," Sovan answered. "We must plan our strategy accordingly."

"We should alert them to the situation," Sweylin stated. "If we do that, perhaps the family will come with us without having to be coerced."

"It is doubtful that they would leave the most heavily defended world in the Federation if they felt that they or their family were in danger from an external enemy," Sovan replied, scratching his chin. "With the scientific advancements of the Federation, humanity has gotten away from magic. They do not recognize its power and ability to overcome even the most advanced of technology."

"Perhaps," Sweylin said, cautiously. "But supernatural powers are not completely unknown to Earth humans, even today. After all, there _are_ human psychics."

"That's true," Sovan admitted. "Perhaps we are worrying too much about this and the family will come with us without issue."

"And if they don't?" Sweylin asked.

"Then we will have to resort to more drastic measures," Sovan answered. "Above all, though, we must secure the Mario Brothers as quickly as possible so that the Enemy cannot claim them."

After the Marios took Luigi home, life returned to normal for the young family more or less. They had an additional mouth to feed but that was no burden for them. The very next day, Luca got back to work at Mario's Plumbing, a small family owned company that his great-grandfather had started and was still profitable to this day. Despite the advanced technology of the Galactic Federation, there was still a need for plumbers to clean out pipes in various structures from houses to buildings to starships. Even parts of the sewer system was maintained by plumbers and the Mario's Plumbing was sometimes contracted by United Earth.

One day, a couple of weeks after Luigi's birth, Luca had just returned from a hard day of work as he had made several house calls all around the neighborhood. The doorknob turned and he pushed the door inward. Mia, who was sitting on the sofa, next to Mario and Luigi, set up at the sound and immediately smiled upon seeing her husband. Luca returned Mia's smile and he beamed. Despite it being only two weeks, Mia seemed to quickly be losing the weight that she had put on while pregnant. That was thanks to her diet, exercise regimen, and genes. He quickly went over to join his wife on the sofa.

"So, how was your day today?" Mia asked in a sensuous tone.

"Busy," Luca heaved as he put down his toolkit and sat next to his wife. He proceeded to look her in the eye and smile again. "You'd think that with all of the technology of the Galactic Federation that things like plumbers would be a thing of the past."

"I don't know about that," Mia responded. "There'll always be toilets and other pipes for carrying running water."

"True," Luca admitted. "But you wouldn't expect things to break down or get clogged so much."

"I wouldn't complain, husband," Mia cooed in a non-serious tone. "After all, those clogs and broken down systems pay our bills."

"That's true," Luca finished as his wife leaned over to kiss him. He quickly returned her kiss and they stared at each other for a few moments. "So, how have the children been?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Fine," Mia answered. "The babies have been pretty quiet, though they make it known when they want food and need to be changed."

"Don't all babies?" Luca asked with a chuckle.

Mia could not help but nod. "Anyway, things have been fine here today, just as they have been ever since we got home from the hospital.

That was good. While there had been no indications of any medical complications from the birth of Luigi, Luca still wanted to make sure that his wife was fine and if any problems did crop up, that he would be on top of them. He loved his entire family and he did not want his children to grow up without their mother.

"So, any plans for tonight?" Luca asked his wife.

"Nothing but a nice, romantic evening together here at home," she answered. "Maybe we can watch a move. I could also whip up something special if you like. Tell me what you want."

"I'd like a nice plate of lasagna," Luca answered, having to restrain himself from licking his lips.

"Then lasagna it is," Mia answered as she rose so she could prepare to make her favorite dish. She then went to the kitchen, calling back to him, saying, "Oh, and if you want to see a movie, make sure it's a family movie. I'm in the mood for something nice and light." Neither Mia nor Luca were fans of extremely graphic movies or other types of entertainment programs. Most of the Earth felt similarly, especially since the end of World War Three and the War Against the PSI Aliens, where humanity had been taken to the brink of extinction. Later, it had been discovered that the PSI Aliens were eager to let humanity wipe itself out, which it would have done had the PSI Aliens not attacked, but were forced to attack early when an unexpected child had showed up and changed everything.

Luca sat back in the sofa and watched his children for what seemed to be a half hour until he heard the sound of knocking at his door. He got up and walked over to the door, wondering who would be knocking at the door at this time of day. When he opened the door, he was met by two figures, one wearing a green cloak with the other wearing a brown cloak. Both figures were wearing hoods that concealed their faces. "Hello," Luca began. "How may I help you?"

"Is your wife home?" one of the figures asked.

"What makes you think I'm married?" the man asked, suspicion beginning to creep into his mind.

"You wear a ring on your left ring finger that has writing on it in a language other than English. Besides, I can hear cooking sounds echoing from your kitchen."

"Maybe you just caught me while I was…"

"Luca Mario, let us get to the point," one of the figures said bluntly, pulling back his hood and revealing that he was not human at all, but what looked to be a Tolkienesque elf with brown hair. "Your family is in danger and it is imperative that you move away from Earth immediately."

"Who are you, and why should I believe you?"

"My name is Sweylin, and my companion is Sovan." Sovan then took off his own hood, revealing himself to be another elf, only with blond hair. "I must speak with both of you for this concerns your entire family. May we come in?"

Luca considered his options. He got a strange feeling from the two visitors and had misgivings about letting them come into his house. "I'd rather have this conversation out in the open," the human answered.

"That would be unwise," Sovan answered.

"The Enemy may have spies waiting outside," Sweylin explained. "We will be able to speak more freely inside your home without fear of being overheard."

"I have no reason to trust you," Luca answered. "For all I know, you're thieves that are simply trying to get inside and stab us in the back when we're not looking."

As Luca and the two elves were talking, Mia came out of the kitchen and saw her husband having a talk with the two men. "Is there a problem, Luca?"

"Not at all, Mia," he answered. "These two men were just leaving."

"Miss, we have come bearing a warning for you and your children. There are things you need to know, important things."

"What things?" Mia asked.

"Don't trust them, Mia. I have a bad feeling about this," Luca warned.

Mia approached him and quietly told her husband, "I know, but even so, I still want to know what they want. I remember seeing someone like the blond-haired man at the hospital. His ears were covered in such a way that they concealed their pointed nature. And besides, if this is not a hoax, we would be fools to ignore a threat. Let's simply hear what they have to say."

"Okay," Luca relented. "But make sure that we have the children with us. They seem to have an unhealthy interest in them. And we are having the conversation out here."

Mia nodded and went inside to bring Mario and Luigi with them. After a couple of minutes, she returned to the porch, carrying both babies, as well as two Tasers. She put the babies on a glider on the porch and handed one of the weapons to her husband. "We'll hear you out. But don't think we'll be taking any chances with the safety of our children," Mia warned the two elves.

The elves glanced at each other and suppressed sighs. They had a feeling that this would be more difficult than initially thought. As Mia went to sit with the children, Luca remained standing several meters away, making sure that if the elves tried anything that he would have time to react. Eventually, he turned to face the elves and bluntly said, "We are ready to hear you out. What do you have to say?"

"We have come to you because you and your children are in grave danger," Sweylin began.

"From who?" Luca asked skeptically.

"From the Enemy," Sovan answered.

"And who is this Enemy?" Mia asked, her skepticism echoing her husband's.

"A force of magical beings that have raped and pillaged across galaxies and even entire universes," came Sweylin's answer. "They are very powerful and command large armies of followers. Even so, though, they are capable of destroying moons and even planets if they so desire."

"And how are our children supposed to be able to fight beings like that?" Luca asked, not believing a word of what the elves were telling him.

"Your children may not have much power here, but on the world of Hylia, they will have access to a great deal of power," Sovan explained. "Humans on that world are stronger than elsewhere. It has to do with the magic of that world and how it resonates with human biology, more specifically _Earth_ human biology. While there are humans on other worlds, they do not gain the same strengths as humans from Earth would. We think that living in other environments causes certain changes and adaptations. It is also possible that even the different foods available on different worlds could affect the strengths granted by the magic of the world of Hylia."

"I fail to see how that would grant them the strength to defeat this Enemy," Mia responded, her skepticism becoming very apparent.

"They would have access to other powers as well," Sweylin added. "With the proper items, they could shoot fire and/or ice, fly, or even stop time. And that is only the tip of the iceberg, as you humans would say."

Luca and Mia glanced at each other skeptically. "And what do you want us to do?" Mia asked.

"We want you to allow your children to come with us so we can train them in the use of the power they will gain on Hylia," Sweylin answered.

"The Enemy already knows where you are," Sovan interjected gravely. "They may have already sent their agents here to capture your children."

The expressions on the human parents' faces indicated that they did not believe the two visitors. Sweylin and Sovan appeared to be getting worried, causing them to nearly grip the shoulders of the two humans, standing back as they both grabbed their Tasers.

"More than anything, your children cannot fall into Enemy hands," Sweylin insisted almost desperately. "If the Enemy were to get your children and brainwash them into fighting for evil, it would be to the detriment of all."

"Why should we believe you?" Luca demanded, not taking his Taser off of Sweylin. "You come here and basically tell us to hand over our babies to you for no better reason than the fact that some Enemy out there is looking for them." He emphasized his disbelief in this 'Enemy' that the elves were talking about.

"You fools!" Sovan blurted. "We were slaves to the Enemy once. Our people were constructed by them to be warriors and for pleasure servants! We do not want the Enemy to enslave you, too!"

"Why would this Enemy want our children anyway?" Mia challenged. "You said it yourselves, our children don't have much, if any, power here on Earth. Why would they be a threat to this Enemy if they have no power here? What possible use would the Enemy have for them?"

"They could take them to the Mushroom Kingdom on Hylia to grant them powers and train them in their use under _their_ guidance!" Sweylin roared, scarcely believing how stubborn these humans could be. "They would brainwash your children and raise them to fight against us and to take over our universe, too!"

"If this Enemy is as powerful as you say it is, and it also wants our children, why has it waited so long to take them?" Luca asked. "Why not take Mario when he was born?"

"Because the Enemy wants _both_ Mario Brothers," Sovan answered, keeping his cool better than Sweylin, though still showing his annoyance with the Marios.

"And what makes you think that they'll be safer on Hylia than they will be here on Earth?" Luca challenged.

"We will surround your children with security, training them in secret. Few people will know where they are, and those that do will be able to protect them," Sweylin answered in a much calmer tone than before.

"And more than that, we will be living on a world that has plentiful Light weaponry," Sovan added. "One of the weaknesses of the Enemy. That is why the Enemy does not attack Hylia. Its last attempt to do so was thwarted by the gods of Hyrule and other guardian deities, albeit at great cost."

"Then why don't you just take care of this Enemy yourselves?" Luca asked, beginning to suspect there was more to the story than what the elves were saying.

"Because we lack the strength to fight the Enemy in direct battle. When the gods of Hyrule drove off the Enemy, they suffered tremendous losses in the process."

"And two humans could defeat them when guardian deities could only drive them off?" Mia asked.

"Your children would not be alone," Sovan stated. "They would be aided by other Chosen Heroes. You see your children are Chosen Heroes and they are destined to be the leaders of the Chosen Heroes as a whole. This force _will_ be able to defeat the Enemy, but only if everybody joins together."

"So let me get this straight," Luca began, his skepticism showing. "You want us to surrender our children to you so you can take them to a world that is not nearly as advanced as Earth, is known to the Enemy and has been invaded by the Enemy before?"

"Yes," Sovan said, nodding. "They will be safe there."

"They'll be safer on a world without space travel than they would be on what is possibly the most heavily defended world in the Galactic Federation?" Mia almost gasped in disbelief. Neither of the humans could believe what they were hearing.

"Has the Enemy ever come to Earth?" Luca asked.

Both Sovan and Sweylin paused before admitting, "Not to our knowledge."

Luca smirked. "Maybe there's a reason for that."

"Why do you say that?" Sweylin asked.

"Maybe because of the planetary shields that could ward off a planet destroying attack, the three hundred heavy defense platforms, one thousand orbital defense energy cannons, and one hundred warships, not to mention the other starbases and spacedocks over the planet along with the fighter squadrons constantly on patrol," Luca answered. "Breaching Earth's defenses will be highly difficult at best, even for an enemy with numbers and power."

"The Enemy can destroy planets," Sweylin stated coolly.

"So can several major galactic powers," Mia countered. "Taking Earth would be highly difficult at best. And if the Enemy did come, they would be detected, giving us an early warning that something was not right. Don't think that humans are the only sentients on Earth. There are also Cetaceans and Pokémon as well, some of who are psychic. What does Hylia have? Does it have planetary defenses?"

"It has the gods of Hyrule," Sovan answered.

"Can the gods of Hyrule destroy a planet?"

"Yes," Sovan answered. "With effort, the goddesses could destroy a planet."

"And so can the firepower that's defending Earth," Luca retorted. "I'm not certain if it could blow apart the Earth very quickly, but it could destroy the Earth's crust pretty quickly."

"You're missing the point," Sweylin said, his voice rising. "The Elvanheim, won't come to Earth and engage its defenses! They'll enter underneath the shielding where the megaton, gigaton, and even teraton weaponry will be useless unless the Earth wants to level a good part of its own surface!"

"Elvanheim?" Luca queried.

"The Enemy," Sovan answered. "And my friend is correct. The Elvanheim are arrogant, but they are not stupid. When they come, they will arrive without warning. They won't launch a large-scale attack where they can be defeated. They will come at you on the small scale, confusing your sensors, disguising themselves as other races. Your world has no magic. It will not detect them until they make their move. And without magic, there is no way to kill an Elvanheim without inflicting obscene damage to the world he or she is standing on."

Sovan then gave a pause to allow the humans to take in everything that he had told them. He saw the two parents lean over to each other and whisper into each other's ears. After a few minutes, Sovan asked, "So, have you made a decision? Will you let us take your children and train them? If you do so, the Enemy will have no reason to come to Earth, for you are not important to them. And if you cannot bear to be parted with them permanently, you may accompany us to Hylia."

Luca then glowered at the two elves. That last statement caused the humans to become even more suspicious of the elves, though it did not affect their decision. "After talking it over with my wife, we have decided to remain here on Earth. We feel that it is the safest place for our children to be right now, and also allow them to grow up and have normal lives." Luca kept his voice level but it was clear that he did not like the elves and was very suspicious of them.

"But they _won't_ have normal lives," Sweylin contested. "They will constantly be Chosen Heroes. That means that they will have special talents and abilities that your schools are ill-equipped to train them in."

"But they will be with friends and family who will love them and support them," Mia responded. "What will they have on Hylia? They'll just be training day in and day out as soon as they can walk, if not sooner. What happens if they are discovered and the Elvanheim launch an attack on Hylia?"

"As I stated before, we have defenses and protectors," Sweylin answered harshly. "If you love your children, you will allow us to take them!"

That was the final straw for Luca and he was about to charge them until Mia reached out and gripped his shoulder, shaking her head. He looked at Sovan and saw that the elf was reaching into his tunic. "It is because we love our children that we aren't letting you take them," Luca growled. "You have your answer. Leave now."

Sweylin and Sovan looked downcast and backed away a step. "Very well. You have made your decision and we will honor it," Sovan began. "However, consider this. Many of the strongest of the Chosen Heroes are native to Earth. Earth will be a target of the Enemy. The Enemy _will_ come for your children. And when they come, they _will_ find them. And they will either take them or kill them and you will be able to do nothing to stop them."

With that, the two elves departed the scene and retreated down the street. Luca walked off of the porch and watched as the elves left his field of vision, walking down the street. Mia quickly holstered her Taser and checked on Mario and Luigi. When she saw that they were alright, she called out to her husband, "Luca."

The man returned to his wife and they took the children inside. Once they were inside, they placed Mario and Luigi in their playpen. Once they were inside their playpen, Luca and Mia sat on the sofa and heaved a sigh. "So, what do you think?" Mia asked her husband.

"I don't like it," came Luca's answer in a grave tone. "I don't like it one bit. Those elves seemed to be obsessed with our children."

"I know," Mia said, echoing her husband's sentiments. "So, what do we do?"

Luca gave a sigh and pondered his wife's question. Eventually, he said, "I don't know. But one thing's for sure. I'm not taking our children to another world, especially one that is not as advanced or heavily defended as this one."

"But you heard what they said about the Elvanheim," Mia replied worriedly. "If we've been discovered, then fleeing may be the best bet."

"Right into the arms of two elves who have an unhealthy interest in our children?"

"I'm with you on that one," Mia answered. "But what should we do? Should we move somewhere else on Earth? Should we move to another planet, Daiban perhaps?"

"No," Luca answered, shaking his head. "The last thing we want to do is leave the safety of Earth. Space Pirates have been hitting numerous convoys. We must stay on Earth. And the best place is in a heavily defended state like New York. Brooklyn is a part of New York City. We're close to the Radio Tower and inside a fortress city. The safest place we can be is in New York. Don't worry, I've got a job in New York close to the Radio Tower. I'll use it to see if anyone is taking an undue interest in us. Unless things change drastically, we should stay."

"Yes," Mia agreed. "But there's no way the babies are left without at least one of us supervising them."

Luca nodded. "And we should also tell our families about the visitors."

"No, not yet," Mia said, shaking her head. "We don't want to scare them yet. We'll see what happens and if there are any other strange sightings or occurrences. After all, they said that Mario and Luigi were only two of many Chosen Heroes."

Luca nodded. "You've got a point. Still, if for any reason we need to be separate from our babies, we'll tell whoever babysits them about what happened so they can take appropriate actions."

Mia nodded in agreement. She then went back to begin preparations for dinner as Luca went to watch Mario and Luigi playing in their playpen. As he watched over them, he could not shake the feeling that he had not seen the last of the elves.

Meanwhile, a couple of blocks away, Sovan and Sweylin looked back towards Luca and Mia's house. "Those fools," Sweylin seethed. "They don't know what they are doing. Their children are more vital than they could ever know."

"Yes, but what would you do in their circumstances?" Sovan asked. "They are humans. They are a young, emotional, and short-sighted species."

"How were you received?" came a gruff male voice from behind them.

The elves turned around and saw two more cloaked figures. These figures quickly removed their cloaks to reveal that they, too, were elves: one male, the other female. They were both slim and lithe. The male had black hair and the other had red hair.

"We were not received well at all," Sovan answered.

"The humans will not hand over their children to us," Sweylin roared. "What's more, they're likely staying put, dismissing what we said as out of hand."

"We could have delivered the message a little more tactfully, though," Sovan admitted.

"That does not matter right now," the female stated. "What is important is that we get these children before the Enemy detects us, as well as the children. We can shield them from detection on Hylia." She then turned to Sovan and Sweylin. "Is there any chance that the parents can be convinced to either part with their babies or take them to Hylia?"

"None, Shara," Sovan answered.

"And what are the prospects of taking the children from their parents?" the male asked.

"Possible but highly risky, Da'Kan," Sovan answered the male. "They will almost certainly have the children under constant surveillance. If we simply tried to launch an assault on the house, we would run the risk of exposure to the Earth's military forces as well as sending an unwanted signal to the Enemy. If we wish to take them with force, we will need to separate them from their parents."

"Can it be done?" both of the newcomer elves asked.

"Maybe," Sovan answered. "But it will require careful planning and timing.

"Then get to work," the other two elves told them. "Let us know when you are ready so we all may go."

"Understood," both Sovan and Sweylin answered.

As soon as they had given their answer, Shara and Da'Kan vanished from sight, leaving Sovan and Sweylin to plan the taking of the Mario children, one way or the other.

Meanwhile, on a world innumerable light-years away from Earth, a tortoise-like sorcerer in a blue robe and hat with eye glasses named Kamek stood by a large black pot inside a tower. He held a magic wand, a yellow rod with a red ball at the end of it in his right hand. He swirled it in the air and began chanting in what sounded like gibberish. He then pointed the wand at the pot and a series of geometric shapes rocketed from the wand and entered into the pot. The pot then bounced and a puff of smoke erupted from it. The pot began to bubble and ethereal images began to form in the smoke. Kamek saw two human men, one dressed in a red shirt with blue overalls and a red hat with an M on it, and the other in a green shirt with blue overalls and a green hat with an L on it, appear. He then saw them fighting with a large bipedal turtle-like creature with a spiky green shell. "Prince Bowser?" the Magikoopa asked, wondering if the image represented the Koopa Prince, who was still a young child, barely a toddler at the moment

He continued to study the image and soon saw the two humans manage to defeat the Koopa. He then saw the same process repeated again, and again, and again. Each of the backgrounds was different, some being in a lava-filled castle with others being in sky areas, but the result was the same: Bowser was defeated time and time again.

"Oh no," Kamek stammered. "Is this Lord Bowser's fate?" He could scarcely believe that two humans could spell doom for his charge. "This cannot be allowed to come to pass." He then deactivated the scene and backed away from the pot, which quickly stopped boiling. "I must stop these humans from becoming a threat to Prince Bowser. I must find them and deal with them before they can become a threat."

"Not so fast," came an ethereal voice.

Kamek quickly looked around his tower. "Master?"

"Yes," came the voice. "It is me."

"Why don't you want me to destroy these children before they become a threat to Prince Bowser?"

"Because why destroy such fighters when we can turn them to our side?" the voice answered.

Kamek's eyes went wide with surprise. He then slumped down and almost banged his head on his bench, annoyed at the fact that he had not considered such a possibility. He knew that his master was right, though. If these children could become soldiers for the Koopa Kingdom, they would be valuable allies indeed. He then stopped everything and quickly went to work in order to ascertain where the children would be born and to whom. He would find them, take them from their parents, kill the parents, and raise them as Koopa soldiers ever loyal to the Koopa Kingdom, and whoever sat on the throne.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The next couple of weeks for the Mario family were free of incident. There had been no return visits from the elves and no suspicious people hanging around their neighborhood. Still, Both Luca and Mia were cautious and ill at ease. They did not dare lower their guard or let life get 'back to normal', fearing that if a move was being made to take their babies, it was being carefully planned. As such, Luca made a habit of going to work at different times, as well as coming home at different times, too. Sometimes, he would arrive hours early at work, while other times, he would arrive either barely in time or even a few minutes late. His supervisor and colleagues asked him about his unpredictable arrival times but he simply shrugged it off, saying that it was due to him caring for both Mario and Luigi.

As for Mia, she was always at the sides of her babies, never letting them out of her sight. She would watch as they played with each other. Mario seemed to be getting along well with Luigi but even at this young age, there was a clear hierarchy beginning to emerge between the two infants. This did not concern the young mother too much, though, since they still seemed to get along well with each other. At times, though, Mia would carefully look around the house while never letting her children leave her sight. If she took them for walks in their strollers, she would always be armed on the off chance that someone would try to take them, for like her husband, she too was worried about the prospect of someone coming after her children and was even more protective of them now that the elves had warned her about the Elvanheim. Still, she believed that if anyone were to come for her children, it would be the elves before the Elvanheim or the servants of the Elvanheim. However, the appearance of the elves on world still concerned her and she worried that if they had appeared on Earth undetected, that there was a chance that servants of the Elvanheim might be able to do so as well. Still, she felt that she was safer on Earth than on an alien world where she and Luca had no friends.

As the time went on, and there appeared to be no attempts to take the babies or any suspicious appearances, Luca and Mia began to think that maybe the elves, or servants of the Elvanheim, assuming the elves were not already servants of the Elvanheim, would not come after the babies or that they were simply being overcautious. However, they did not lower their guard one bit and there was not a moment where the babies were out of sight of at least one of the parents.

One day, about a month after Luigi's birth, Luca was driving home after a long and grueling day of work, just as he had since he had started work at Mario's Plumbing. He had done a job for United Earth and worked on the plumbing inside the Radio Tower and several surrounding buildings. The pay for taking United Earth jobs was good and he looked forward to the hefty paycheck that he had received for a job well done.

As he drove home, he took an unusual route, just as he had planned since he was still concerned that either the elves or the servants of the Elvanheim were tracking him. As he drove the route, he noticed a car coming up from behind his van. This car did not look to be all that advanced, for it was a normal ground car whose design looked boxy, as if it were still from the twentieth century. There were no markings or lights indicating it to be a police or military car. As he took a left at the next street, a normal part of this route, he found that the car turned with him. He traveled a few miles and turned right, keeping an eye on his rearview mirror to see if the car turned with him. Sure enough, the car turned with him. Luca grimaced. He knew that the elves or their servants would not give up on either taking his children or taking him with them. He had prepared for this eventuality and put his plan into action.

He made a quick right turn at the next light and accelerated away, taking a hard left through an alley. There he stopped for a moment before slowly driving through the alley and exiting from it. He turned left and followed the road a few miles, going through several lights before rejoining his original route home.

As he continued his drive, though, he came to a green light and proceeded to travel straight through it as usual. He was going around the speed limit of forty miles per hour and was not driving recklessly so he was shocked when a car was coming through the red light at the intersection right as he was driving through. The car was coming towards him fast and he had less than a second to act. He quickly accelerated and attempted to maneuver his car so that the speeding driver would only manage to score a glancing hit on his car. However, as he maneuvered to his right so as to avoid a direct hit, the car seemed matched his maneuver and scored a direct hit on the car.

A loud pop sounded as the two cars collided. Luca's car spun around as the other car only managed to score a glancing hit on him. The force of the car's spin caused him to bang his head on the transparent window of his car. The sudden impact was enough to daze him and he also felt his arm hit the door hard. The pain that shot through his arm as he slumped into the seat as he drifted into and out of consciousness indicated that he had either broken or bruised his left arm. The car quickly stopped spinning and came to a stop in the middle of the road.

Luca tried to remain conscious but he found that a difficult task. He felt a wet sensation on his head just above his forehead and put his fingers to it. When he slowly dragged them away, he found them stained with a red liquid that he knew to be his blood. As he attempted to rise, he found that his body was not responding and he was beginning to drift out of consciousness once more. However, as he was drifting out of consciousness, he saw a figure approach his car. The figure wore a green cloak and hood that obscured his face. His mind raced as he knew who, or what, the figure was. He was certainly one of the elves that had visited him or was at least affiliated with them, either them or the Elvanheim. As he faded out of consciousness, he saw the man stand over the wrecked car in the middle of the road and pull out a phone. All that went through his mind was that the reason he was alive right now was because he was bait. And suddenly, he knew why. They were going after his children and would use his injury to lure Mia away from them. "No," he croaked just as he lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, back at home, Mia was putting the finishing touches on the living room, having spent the last hour cleaning it so it could be a pristine playground for Mario and Luigi. As she was finishing, she heard her babies crying and rushed to check on them. When she arrived, they stopped crying and smiled, cooing softly. She then took them into her arms and rocked them until they fell asleep. As soon as they had fallen asleep, she heard the phone ring in her bedroom, causing the babies to wake up and begin to cry. She gritted her teeth, promising to herself to make whoever was calling her regret having done so just when the babies had gone to sleep. She gently placed them back in their crib and went to the phone and picked up.

"Yeah, what is it?" she bellowed into the phone.

She listened to the voice on the other end of the phone and her face went whiter and whiter with each second as she heard the terrible news. "What happened?" she gasped.

After a response came over the phone, she added, "When?"

After another response, she asked, "Where was he taken."

She listened for the location of the hospital that her husband was taken to and wrote down its location. Once she had written down the hospital's location, she quickly looked back at the children, fear evident on her face. Apparently, she was beginning to grow concerned about the children as well. After a few more seconds, she hung up the phone. She then focused on her babies. She could not leave them but she also did not know any good babysitters.

After a minute or so of contemplation, she picked up the phone again and called her own parents. After a few rings, the phone was picked up on the other side. "Hello?" came the response from a female voice.

"Hi Mom, it's me, Mia," Mia replied. "Luca was injured in a car accident and…"

"Oh my gosh! Is he alright?" Mia's mother gasped in reply.

"He's got a broken arm, a couple cracked ribs, and a concussion, but otherwise he seems to be fine, or so I heard," Mia answered, her answer indicating that she believed that some of his injuries might have been more severe than indicated. "I'm going to go over to the hospital to check up on him and find out if anything else is wrong. However, I don't have a babysitter set up for Mario and Luigi so I was wondering if you and Dad could look after Mario and Luigi while I'm at the hospital."

"Sure thing, dear. I look forward to seeing the little darlings."

"Also, there are other things we need to talk about, but not over the phone. I'll fill you in when you get here. Just keep a weapon handy and don't open the door for anyone other than family."

"Okay dear," Mia's mother said, worry beginning to creep into her voice. "You be careful going over to the hospital."

"I will be, Mom," Mia assured her. She then hung up the phone.

Before doing anything else, she got out a jacket to put over her blouse. She then grabbed her Taser and put it inside an inside pocket. She wanted to take something more powerful, such as one of her slugthrower guns or even an energy pistol, but she knew that she would not be allowed to carry it past security in the hospital, though she doubted that they would allow a Taser into the ER. In addition, though, she did not want any scouts for any enemies that may have been searching for Mario and Luigi to become suspicious of her or suspect that she would be prepared for them if they came for her children. If this was a ploy to separate her from her husband and try to take her babies from her she wanted them to be in for a big surprise. However, after consideration, she took a slugthrower and a laser pistol with her for her husband, on the off chance that someone managed to take her children, for a very bad feeling came over her regarding their safety.

Just as she had gathered her weapons, she heard a knock at the door. She knew that it could not have been her parents, for she had gotten off the phone with her mother only moments ago. She went up to the door, drawing her laser pistol, figuring that if she were facing the elves that she would need weaponry that was useful against shields, which energy weapons were, more so than projectile weapons. As she approached the door, she peered through a glass pane and saw a fourteen year old girl standing at the door. She had black hair and blue eyes, was wearing a pink sleeveless shirt, white shorts, and was smiling eagerly. Mia instantly recognized the girl as Madeline Mario, the daughter of Luca's older brother. She sighed. She liked the girl, for Madeline adored her younger cousins and always played with them, and did not want to drive her off, but her arrival could not have come at a worse time. A dark thought soon came to her mind and she quickly scanned the street and sidewalk for any signs of someone hovering near the house. She did not see anyone else in the vicinity, though, which caused her to breathe a sigh of relief. Eventually, she opened the door, smiling at the girl.

"Hi aunt Mia?" Madeline proclaimed exuberantly as the babies' mother opened the door. "Are Mario and Luigi home?"

Mia nodded.

"Is it okay if I come to visit them?" was the girl's next question.

Mia's expression darkened.

"Is something wrong?" Madeline asked, noticing Mia's change of expression and beginning to grow worried. "Is this a bad time?"

Mia nodded, answering, "Sadly, yes."

"What happened?"

"Luca was injured in a car accident," came Mia's answer, causing the girl to gasp. "I just called my parents to watch over Mario and Luigi when you arrived."

"You go on ahead and be with Uncle Luca. I'll watch over Mario and Luigi until your parents arrive," Madeline offered.

Mia's eyes lit up and she stammered, "Thank you, but you don't have…"

"It's no problem Aunt Mia. I wanted to be with my cousins anyway. This is a great opportunity to do so."

Mia was not as enthusiastic about Madeline's volunteering to watch over Mario and Luigi. She knew nothing of the threat posed to Mario and Luigi, something she decided to tell the girl about now. "Madeline, there is something you need to know, and when my parents arrive, you have to tell them, too."

"No problem," Madeline answered exuberantly. Despite the gravity in Mia's voice, Madeline did not seem too concerned.

"First off, are you familiar with any sort of firearm, slugthrower or energy weapon?"

Madeline began to grow concerned and hesitantly nodded her head.

"A couple of weeks ago we were visited by a group of elves of some sort," Mia began. "I doubt that they were Star Elves, for they seemed to rely more upon magic than technology from what we could see. They told us that our children, Mario and Luigi, had an important destiny and tried to convince us to give them to their people to care for. We declined and they attempted to convince us to move to their world, a world called Hylia. They said that a powerful force known as The Enemy was coming for them. However, I could see in their eyes that they would do anything, and go through anyone, to get their hands on Mario and Luigi. I can't leave them alone with you. I'll wait until my parents arrive."

"But Uncle Luca needs you," Madeline countered. "I can watch over the babies until your parents arrive."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Mia blurted. "If the elves or servants of this Enemy come, and I think they will if they know that I'm either gone without the children or alone with them, they'll do anything to get them, even kill you and anyone else that gets in their way."

"I heard you Aunt Mia," Madeline answered calmly. "I won't let anything happen to my cousins. I'll protect them."

After a few seconds, Mia could tell that there was no dissuading Madeline from her path and she said, "Thank you Madzie." She then hugged the girl.

Madeline smiled as Mia went to get ready to go to Luca. Before leaving, though, she got out a laser pistol and told Madeline how to operate it, how to adjust its settings, and where the safety was located. She then handed Madeline the pistol, which the girl accepted and the holster, which the girl clipped to the side of her shorts. Lastly, she admonished Madeline to not answer the door for anyone other than family, and that there would be a code by which family members would identify themselves for her. The girl listened intently and nodded.

After she had gone over the instructions for Madeline, she took two bundles of blankets and wrapped them up into balls. She wanted to make it look like she was taking the children with her, hoping that she would trick any potential kidnappers into thinking that she had the children with her. Once she was ready, she exited the house, locking the door to make it look like she was leaving with no one else being present, hoping that no one noticed Madeline's presence, or simply suspected the girl of staying at their house to look after it while she was away. She then went out to the car and opened the driver's door as well as the rear passenger door. She placed the blankets in child seats and snapped a seatbelt over them, going through the motions of settling her children into the seats. Once she was ready, she closed the door and got into the driver's seat of the car. She then promptly started the car and quickly left, heading towards the hospital.

Mia's departure from her house, however, did not go unnoticed. A lone figure dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans stood at the end of the street and watched as she sped away. He had seen the entire process and strongly suspected that she was taking the children with her to her destination. He quickly began to pursue Mia as she drove away. As he began to run after her, the light revealed two bumps on the sides of the hood that indicated that the figure had long pointed ears. His gate soon sprang into a full out sprint. He ran noticeably faster than a normal human and raced after the car. However, Mia had decided to disregard the speed limit and raced away from her home towards the hospital as quickly as possible and it was not long before the figure had lost sight of her car. He then slowed, coming to a stop, muttering, "Dammit, lost them."

He pulled out a small cylindrical device and pushed a single button on it. He then lifted it to his mouth and spoke into it saying, "This is Draycon. I've lost the woman. She was last seen traveling down Broadway Street at high speed. She has the babies with her. Awaiting instructions."

He waited for a few seconds before he heard a response. "Remain at your current location for the time being Draycon. We'll relay this to Sweylin and the others."

"But what about the woman? She has the babies and must certainly be going to see her husband," Draycon insisted.

"We know," came the response. "Just stay where you are. If anything changes, we'll inform you."

Draycon was about to shut off the communicator when he heard it ring. He activated it and said, "Yes?"

"Were you able to make out any distinguishing features of the car that the woman was riding?" the voice asked.

"Yes," Draycon answered. "It had a rear plate with the letters M-F-P followed by the numbers seven, seven, four. There is also an emblem on its side that says 'Ford'."

"Excellent, Draycon," the voice cooed. "You've done better than expected. Report back immediately. You'll be joining the main force in liberating those babies."

"Understood, sir," Draycon answered.

He then took out a round object and stared into it. After a second, the object began to glow a bright white. Soon, the light erupted from the globe and engulfed Draycon. After one more second the light died down once more, Draycon having disappeared, returning to Sweylin and the others, who were already tracking down Mia's car. It would not be long before they had a location of the Mario babies, and would make their attempt to take them so they could train them to battle the Enemy while keeping them away from the prying eyes of said Enemy.

Not too far away, Sweylin was standing on the side of the road doing his best to look like an ordinary pedestrian. His spotters had reported the location of Mia's car and he was eager to intercept her and her babies. They needed to be taken away from the eyes of the Enemy. Watching each car drive by, he eventually spotted a car matching the description of the car Mia was driving. As he saw it come by, he silently cast a spell allowing him to see inside the car. Sure enough, he managed to spot Mia, but when he looked at the child car seats, he noticed that there were no children in them, merely bundles of blankets. He quickly activated his communicator and spoke into it, alerting his team, "This is Sweylin to all team members; the babies are not with their mother. I repeat: the babies are not with their mother. They must still be at the mother's home. Get them now! They will not remain unguarded for long."

A chorus of affirmatives answered him over his communicator. Once the responses had been made, Sweylin gave a scowl and teleported back to the roof of a nondescript building. The mother was clever, using the bundles of clothes to make it look like she was concealing her children when she was merely disguising the fact that she had kept them at home with little security. Still, he knew not to underestimate a human mother. He only hoped that his team did not underestimate any security measures and guardians that may have been watching over the children, too.

Back at the house, it was not long before reinforcements arrived for Madeline. The Mario Brothers' grandparents pulled up in a relatively new dark blue mid-sized ground car and parked besides the sidewalk. The grandparents soon emerged from the car and scanned the area, having already heard that their daughter was gravely concerned about someone who was after their grandchildren. The grandmother, Maria, was a fit woman almost fifty years of age, despite looking much younger, still having her blond hair that fell to her shoulders along with blue eyes. She looked very much like an older version of Mia. Her husband was the same age, also looking quite young for his age as well. He had short brown hair and blue eyes as well. When they saw that the way appeared to be clear, they made their way up the sidewalk and to the house. When they arrived at the door, they knocked on the glass pants three times for each pane descending, and then on the wooden door five times.

Inside the house, Madeline had been playing with the babies in their playpen when she heard the correct sequence of knocks for her aunt's parents. Still taking the precaution of arming herself, she approached the door and opened it for the adults. Before opening it, though, she looked through the glass pane in order to make sure that it was, indeed, the grandparents. Seeing that it was, Madeline opened the door to them, welcoming them in.

"Hi Daniel, hi Maria," she exclaimed exuberantly.

"And hi to you too, Madeline," Daniel answered, smiling.

Mario and Luigi also noticed the arrival of their grandparents, for they gave exuberant squeals of joy at the sight of the adults. The grandparents then went over to the children and they began to play, the babies smiling and giggling with glee.

Meanwhile, Mia drove to the hospital as quickly as she could without getting flagged down by a police officer. She followed the map on her dashboard display and arrived at the hospital within ten minutes. She quickly found a parking space and proceeded to enter the emergency room entrance. She hurried out of her car and rushed into the emergency room.

Once inside, she went up to the front desk, which was being attended by a Caucasian woman in her late thirties with blond hair, and hurriedly asked, "My husband was brought in here after a car accident a few hours ago. His name is Luca Mario. Could you tell me where he is?"

"Certainly," the woman answered as she punched in a series of commands on the computer screen in front of her. After a few seconds, she replied, "Luca Mario is located in ward fifteen. Go back and take a left at the end of the hall. You should find him there."

"Thank you," Mia replied, bowing slightly before rushing back into the emergency room to meet with her husband.

She quickly went through the double doors that led to the emergency room. She looked at the wooden doors that framed the wall and searched the numbers above each door, looking for room fifteen. She eventually found the room, rushed to the door, grabbed its knob, turned it, and swung the door open when she arrived.

When she opened the door, she found a doctor, a man in his early thirties wearing a white coat and with a stethoscope around his neck, fussing over Luca, putting the finishing touches to the bandages on his head as well as checking the cast on his left arm. Mia also noticed the bandages over his ribcage. When Luca saw his wife appear in the doorway, his eyes went wide with shock and panic.

"Mia, what are you doing here?" he blurted, pushing the doctor away. "Where are the children?"

"I left them at home with Madeline and my parents," Mia answered. "Madeline made a surprise visit and when I told her where I was going, she insisted that I come to check on you. My parents were only minutes behind her."

"No!" Luca cried. "This was a setup! The ones who told us to let them take our children are taking matters into their own hands. They'll take them!"

"I've already told Mom, Dad, and Madeline of the situation," Mia answered calmly. "Besides, I made it look like I took the children with me. I, too, was suspicious after I heard about your injuries. I'm sure they were about to attack the house. They wanted us to be separated so they could probably overwhelm whichever of us was uninjured with superior numbers. If they go after Mario and Luigi now, they'll have to contend with three people, all of them likely armed."

Luca quickly rose. "That won't stop them!" he cried. "They won't stop until they have our babies, or die trying. We have to get to our children now! We have to make our stand!"

"I know," Mia said, trying to calm her husband. "But you're in no condition to fight right now."

"I'm not as bad off as I look," Luca contested as he walked towards the door.

"Wait, mister Mario," the doctor called, rushing over to restrain Mia's husband. "You're not cleared to leave yet. You suffered a concussion, have a broken arm and two cracked ribs."

"I'm sorry Doctor Gibson but I can't stay any longer. My family is in danger and I won't stand by and wait for something bad to happen to them," Luca answered.

"But you're in no condition to do much of anything right now. It's a miracle that you weren't more seriously injured in the accident."

"That wreck was no accident," Luca corrected. "I have to leave now. I won't let them get my children."

Seeing that it was futile to challenge the man, the doctor merely sighed and gave Luca a pill. "Use this if you begin to feel light-headed," Dr. Gibson instructed him. "It's a painkiller that also reduces the symptoms of concussions and should allow you to operate lucidly but there's a reason I'm only giving you this one pill. It can be dangerous to use more than once and you still should not exert yourself. This pill only alleviates the symptoms of your injuries, it does not heal you."

"I understand," Luca called back to him as he exited the room. "And thank you!"

Luca then fled the room and went down the hall so he could leave the hospital as quickly as possible. Mia quickly followed her husband out of the ER. When they reached the desk, Luca handed his insurance card to the receptionist and waited the few seconds it took for her to swipe the card through so the insurance company could be given all of the billing information. Then, after all of that was done, Luca and Mia rushed out of the hospital and back to their car, knowing that they did not have a moment to lose. They would not let the elves get their children, not without a fight anyway.

Meanwhile, back at Mia's house, Madeline played with the babies in their playpen while the babies' grandparents watched. The babies' faces lit up at the sight of Madeline's smile as she moved around some toys for them to try to wrest from her light grasp. Working together, the babies were able to get a ball out of her hands and claim it for themselves. Madeline could only smile. They were already close, more like siblings than cousins. The grandparents also smiled at the scene and the bond that Mario and Luigi had for each other, as well as for their cousin. Even so, though, they still remained on guard as they watched the happy scene. They had been disturbed when Madeline had told them that an otherworldly group was after the babies. When they had heard what Madeline had told them, they had wanted her to leave, but she insisted on staying, not only wanting to play with her cousins, but also ensure their safety.

After a while, it was beginning to get late and the babies were getting fussy. Looking at the time, they saw that it was close to nine o'clock at night. They were concerned about not having heard anything from Luca and Mia. They only hoped that everything turned out alright. Either way, though, nothing strange had happened while they were there. After seeing the time, they figured that it was close to the babies' bedtime.

"Looks like it's getting late," Maria commented, looking at the clock, indicating to Madeline that it was time for the babies to go to bed.

Turning around to them, she nodded. After turning back to the babies, she scooped up each child and cooed, "This has been fun but it's getting late and it's time for bed."

The girl then carried them upstairs to the babies' bedroom, just to the right of the steps as they got to the top floor, while the grandparents continued to stay on guard. Once she was upstairs, Madeline proceeded to change the babies and lay them in their cribs. Despite it being the spring, she did not want to take any chances so she closed the windows and locked them, making certain to make it as difficult for someone to break into the babies' room as possible, and impossible for it to be done without alerting everyone in the house. There, she waited for the babies to fall asleep, as well as for her aunt's parents to arrive.

Back downstairs the grandparents were quietly sitting in their chairs, waiting for to hear anything from Luca and/or Mia when an eerie sensation came over them. Daniel got up and went over to the window, peering out from behind the blinds. Outside, he saw two figures approach the house. There must have been some kind of enchantment over them, for they looked to resemble ghosts and he could not put any description to them.

"Get ready, honey," Daniel began, drawing his pistol. "It looks like those elves are coming."

"Got it," Maria answered, drawing her own weapon.

Once they were ready, they retreated to the kitchen doorway, taking cover behind a wall, but making sure that had a complete view of the living room. After a moment, they could see shadows appear through the door's windowpanes. The shadows then stopped and everything became deathly quiet. Then, after a few seconds, they saw the shadows move a bit. Suddenly, several warped ethereal clocks began to form around them in all different colors and a muted ringing sound like that of a bell could be heard. Then, suddenly, everything came to a stop, though the grandparents did not comprehend that fact, for they were frozen in time, and would remain that way until the effects of the Stop Watch wore off.

Meanwhile, back upstairs Madeline had finished putting the babies to bed. Once she was finished, she noticed that everything sounded eerily silent. As she left the room, she heard a rapping at the door downstairs. As took her first step down the stairs a step down the stairs, she stopped and hesitated. She had not heard anything from the grandparents at all. She suddenly began to sweat and she quickly drew the gun that Mia had given to her and made her way down the stairs.

When she arrived downstairs, she glanced at the door to see if anyone was at the door. Seeing no one there, she turned around and looked into the kitchen, seeing the frozen forms of Daniel and Maria. She gasped and rushed over to them, yelling, "Daniel, Maria!"

She went over to them, trying to get them to respond, but she could not. They were completely frozen. What puzzled her, though, was why she was not frozen as well. She then heard a rapping at the door once more and she quickly made her way out of the kitchen and over to the door.

As she made her way to the door, she felt an eerie presence on the other side. Whoever was at the door was not friendly, and she took a defensive stance as she approached the door. As she approached, the downstairs became silent after the sounds of several lightning bolts. All lights that were still on in the house immediately went out, shocking her and causing her to gasp. With there not being a cloud in the sky, she knew that that was no natural phenomenon. Madeline could hear her own breath and heartbeat as she waited, knowing that once the door opened, she would likely be in a life and death battle for the fates of her cousins. Taking one last look behind her, she saw that the grandparents of her cousins were still frozen in place. She took out the gun Mia had given her, making sure that it was charged and ready. The doorknob rattled a bit and then stopped. Whoever was outside was evidently attempting to gain entry into the house. She took a defensive stance in front of the door and zeroed her aim right on the door. Soon, she noticed the lock begin to move. She figured that the kidnappers were using magic to gain entry into the house. As soon as the lock had fully retreated and clicked, the doorknob twisted and the door flew open. Standing in the doorway were two humanoid figures wearing green cloaks and hoods that concealed their faces. However, the figures did not immediately attack the girl as they made they opened the door, nor did Madeline immediately open fire on them. They merely studied the girl and then glared at her.

"There are two children here that have great destinies, destinies that will determine the fates of many worlds," one of the figures, a male, began. "However, they will never come into their powers or abilities if left on this world of science and technology. More importantly, they are being pursued by a dangerous Enemy that can overcome this world's defenses. They must come with us if they are to survive and grow into the heroes that they can become without being watched by said Enemy."

"I know all about you," Madeline retorted harshly. "You want to take my cousins away from here so they can be indoctrinated into being your soldiers. I won't allow that."

"Yes you will," the figure answered, removing his hood, revealing himself to be an elf. "These children are the only chan…"

"No I won't," Madeline interjected forcefully. "And before you continue on this ill-conceived quest of yours, consider this; what happens if you succeed here but Mario and Luigi discover that they were kidnapped from their homes, not rescued from some enemy or orphaned at a young age? What will happen if they learn that _you_ kidnapped them and that you did the very thing that this 'Enemy' would have done to them, assuming it even exists?"

"These will be questions for another day," the second figure, another male, answered. "Today, we will take these children and allow them to fulfill their destinies.

"Then you are shortsighted fools," Madeline answered harshly with a frown. "You are not allowed into this house and you have no right to my cousins. Leave now."

"I'm afraid we must refuse," the elf answered stoically.

"And I'm afraid I must insist," Madeline answered, her bead on the elf not wavering one bit. "I promised my aunt that I would protect my cousins with my life, and with deadly force if necessary. Leave before deadly force is required for my promise to be fulfilled."

"We _will_ have the children, and if you resist, you will not survive, and neither will the grandparents," the first elf retorted in warning.

Just then, the elf whipped out a sword and charged towards Madeline. The teenaged girl's hand did not waver as she pulled the trigger, having already drawn a bead on the elf, a loud pop sounding as a laser pulse erupted from her gun and shot straight towards the elf. The laser easily burned its way through the plate armor covering the elf's chest, and burned a hole in the elf's chest, felling him. The second elf went to draw what looked to be a pistol or miniature crossbow of some sort but was felled by a second shot from Madeline before he could use said weapon. The elf slumped to his knees and then fell over, either dead or dying.

As Madeline had engaged the two elves in the doorway, she heard the crash of a breaking window from the upstairs and, along with the crying of the babies. A sense of dread entered the girl's heart as the thought that the two elves at the front door were merely decoys entered her mind. Wasting no time, she rushed up the stairs and quickly went into the babies' bedroom. There, she saw an elf reaching in towards the crib. He was wearing a light green tunic with no hood, not bothering to hide his heritage. When Madeline arrived and yelled, "No," the elf quickly turned and drew what looked to be a yellow physical lightning bolt and pointed it at the girl. The bolt turned into a real lightning bolt and lashed out at Madeline, catching the girl completely off guard, striking her in the lower right portion of her abdomen. The magical lightning bolt pierced the girl, entering in her front and out the back, fortunately cauterizing the hole. Electricity arced over Madeline's body and the girl cried out as she fell to the ground, paralyzed and unable to move. However, before she fell and the paralysis took full effect, she was able to pull the trigger of her pistol while leveling the gun at the elf and a laser blast erupted from the gun's barrel as she fell backwards, the girl making sure to aim high so that she would not risk hitting her cousins. Her aim was true enough and managed to score a hit on the elf, the laser blast striking him in the upper right portion of his chest. The laser pulse burned through the elf's armor and cauterized the wound, but it would do the elf little good, for the elf had taken a hit in the heart and his fate would be certain.

Despite the fact that his heart had a hole in it, though, the elf was not yet dead. Using his remaining magic reserves to keep himself alive, he slowly turned around and stretched out his right hand towards the window, causing the window to fly open, revealing a stork standing on the roof just outside the bedroom. The blankets then magically surrounded the babies and wrapped them, protecting and ensnaring them. The stork then poked its head in and grabbed the babies. Once it had done so, the elf stammered, "Go. Take them…back…to Sweylin. Take them…to…safety." With that, the elf fell to the ground and died. However, his smile was evident on his face. Despite dying, he had accomplished his mission.

Madeline watched the whole thing, fighting to remain conscious and trying to lift her gun so she could take out the stork before it reached her cousins but she was unable to do so. Her paralysis was not letting up and while she could feel her extremities, she could not move them, causing her to cry out in pain, sadness, and rage as the stork took the babies, retreated out the window, spread its wings and flew away.

Back downstairs, the effects of the Stop Watch eventually wore off and time returned to normal for Daniel and Maria. The moment it did so, they faced the door and saw two hooded figures enter the house. When the figures saw the grandparents move, they froze and then turned to face them. The figures then drew out two objects. One of the objects strongly resembled a massive snowflake with eyes while another consisted of an orange flower with green stem and eyes. The figure with the snowflake placed it on the ground and stood back as a blizzard a wind and snow began to buffet the grandparents, prompting them to dive to the floor. Despite the wide arc of the blizzard, the grandparents were able to avoid the deadly wind and snow, even though ice was encasing the wall and several of appliances. From their prone positions, they managed to draw a bead on the figures. The grandmother raised her pistol and fired a single energy blast at the cloaked figure that had placed the snowflake on the floor. A scarlet pulse of light erupted from the pistol and struck the figure squarely in the chest, easily burning through his armor and felling him.

The second figure, seeing his companion fall, stepped out and readied the flower that he had brought. Figuring that it was a weapon like the snowflake, the grandfather quickly leveled his own energy pistol at the figure and fired a single shot. The scarlet laser blast struck the figure in the chest, burning through the figure's armor as easily as his wife's laser blast had his companion's. The felling of the figure caused the figure to launch the fireballs from the flower to rocket out the door and incinerate another figure that was fast approaching the house.

With the three figures having been dealt with, the grandparents took stock of the situation. They soon noticed that the house was quiet, too quiet. Soon, they began to fear the worst and Maria cried, "Madeline!" hoping that the girl was okay and the children were safe.

The two did not wait to listen for an answer, though, and they quickly ran up the steps to the babies' bedroom. When they arrived, they saw Madeline lying on the ground, a hole in the lower right portion of her abdomen, prompting them to gasp and lean down to check on her condition. Madeline turned her head and weakly croaked, "Ma…ri…a."

Maria immediately ran to Madeline's side and knelt down beside her. Turning to her husband, she told him, "Daniel, call nine-one-one right now!"

As she told her husband to call the ambulance, Madeline continued, "I…couldn't…save them."

Maria did not know what Madeline meant until Daniel came over to her and said, "Maria, the paramedics are on their way." He then paused before telling her what she already knew. "The kids are gone."

"A stork took them," Madeline told them weakly, trying to move. Maria put her hand on her, trying to keep her still and calm.

"A stork?" Daniel asked quizzically, scarcely believing what his grandson's cousin was telling him.

Madeline nodded weakly. "I saw it myself. I'm sorry," she finished before she lost consciousness.

Both Daniel and Maria grimaced. "So these elves are using animals to kidnap babies," Daniel growled.

"At least the babies will be slightly easier to track," Maria answered. "The stork would undoubtedly stand out with a two babies hanging from its beak."

The grandmother then heard the sirens of the paramedics as her husband went outside in order to direct them to Madeline. She took out her cell phone and dialed their daughter's phone. The tone rang a couple of times before the voice of Mia answered the phone, saying, "Hello?"

"It's me, Mom," Maria quickly answered.

"Mom," a surprised Mia blurted. "Is everything okay?"

There was a moment of silence and Mia quickly feared the worst. "No," Maria eventually answered. "The elves attacked the house. Madeline was seriously injured in the fight. The paramedics just arrived so we'll have a better idea of her condition when they get up to her. As for the babies, the elves got them. Madeline took down three of the attackers but a stork managed to take the babies during the fighting and escape."

As she spoke, Daniel immediately ran outside to see if he could find any hint of the stork and its location. Once he was out the front door, he saw the flashing lights of the ambulance arrive and the paramedics rushing towards the house. As he stepped aside and told the medics that Madeline was upstairs, he looked into the sky to see if he could find any sign of the stork. The tree line in front of the house, as well as the other houses, though, made the search difficult. He was about to give up when he heard his wife call from the bathroom window above him. "To the north!"

He immediately turned to face due north and noticed the stork just before its path took it behind a canopy of trees and a house. As he focused on the stork, he thought that he could see something hanging down from its beak. That had to be the stork that Madeline mentioned. He then called back up to Maria, "Tell Mia and Luca about the stork, that it's headed due north!"

Maria ducked back in and went to alert Mia and Luca of the situation. After that, the medics arrived at the top of the stairs and she let them get to work on stabilizing Madeline and placing her on a stretcher so they could take her to the hospital. As they worked on her and eventually took her into the ambulance, one of them went over to Maria and told her, "The girl's suffered a nasty shock and there was a burn through her abdomen. Despite resembling a wound from a real life lightning bolt, this was not done by a real lightning bolt. If she suffered a direct hit like this from a real bolt of lightning, especially with the physical damage her abdomen suffered, she should have already died. However, she should survive with proper medical attention and without any permanent disability. This was more like a particle beam with a nasty electrical effect."

"Thank you," Maria told the medic as he carted Madeline out of the house. After that, she and Daniel simply stood by the girl's side and prayed that Luca and Mia would be able to find their grandchildren and take them back from the elves.

Meanwhile, Luca drove the car down the street as fast as he possibly could, Mia sitting anxiously in the passenger seat. They both had listened to the message and update given to them by Mia's parents countless times since they had left the hospital and on their journey. They both prayed for Madeline's well-being and hoped that the ambulance had arrived quickly enough to save her and allow her to make a full recovery. They knew, though, that they were racing against time. Madeline may have inflicted some losses, but they knew that the elves still had Mario and Luigi and would never let them go. The fact that they were searching for a bird, a stork it seemed, was also of interest to them. If that was true, then it might not be as difficult to track down their children as they had initially believed, especially since they knew that the stork was headed north and would, undoubtedly, stand out.

As Luca drove towards his home, Mia scanned the skies for any sign of the stork. Much to her shock, she managed to find a bird that looked just like a stork flying towards them, a cloth with two lumps being held in its beak. The lumps looked to be moving and the stork was flying relatively slowly so as to avoid dropping them. While the stork was not flying all that high off the ground, it still flew above the rooftops of the townhouses that lined the street. For a moment, she thought that she was seeing things it was too good to be true. She blinked and she still saw the stork. It was a miracle.

"I found it," she called to Luca. She looked up at the sky and saw the stork take a hard right. She pointed at the stork. "He just turned. Take the left at this light!"

"Right," Luca answered as he turned the car hard to his left, barreling through traffic, causing several horns to blare as other drivers barely avoided colliding with his car.

He immediately caught sight of the stork and was ready to gun the throttle when Mia held him back, cautioning, "Wait, we don't want the stork to know we're following him."

"But if it gets too far ahead, we'll lose it," her husband countered.

"And if we spook the stork, it may drop our babies," Mia answered. "And if we shoot it down, it most certainly will. Our best chance to retrieve our children safely will be to take them when the stork lands. We can't risk the safety of our children."

"I know, but I don't like letting the stork reach its destination with our children in its beak. It's probably aligned with the elves and they'll almost certainly have backup. There's no way they won't have a contingency for us finding out about our children's kidnapping."

Mia nodded in agreement but she did not have any better ideas. She knew the risks in her plan, but she also knew that she could not simply shoot down the stork, for the fall that would result would certainly kill her children. As such, their only chance was to follow the stork far enough behind that that the stork did not know it was being followed, and that any lookouts would not discover them, or view them as a threat until it was too late and they were past any sentries.

They continued to follow the stork for the better part of half an hour, turning with the bird but remaining far enough behind while still driving the speed limit and driving much more safely so that they would not be viewed as suspicious by any sentries. After the half hour, the stork began its descent. Luca quickly slowed his car but did so in a way that made it look like it may have been having mechanical difficulties. One of the advantages of using this older car was that a breakdown or something seemingly going wrong would not look out of the ordinary. Still, as he drove, both he and Mia kept a close eye on the stork. They saw it dip beneath the roofs of the buildings and quickly found it headed towards the old School of Rock that had recently shut down.

The stork landed on the steps that led to the entrance to the building. The babies were still crying as the stork waited for its contact to arrive. The doors to the school opened and out stepped two figures wearing green cloaks and hoods. The figures looked at the stork and commanded, "Leave them here and go. We'll take them back to their parents. Those that are searching for them won't be too far behind. We cannot let them track us back to where we are going. You lead them away but do not engage and do not fight them. They are dangerous and when they realize that you have accomplished your part of the mission, they will either return or ask you where they are. If they interrogate you, tell them about his school. We will be long gone before they are able to track us. Do you understand?"

The stork nodded in affirmation. The figures then took the two children and retreated into the building while the stork immediately took off and flew southwest. The figures entered the building and went to a stairwell that led to a basement level that took them beneath the abandoned school. Once they were inside, one of the figures took out a cylindrical communicator and spoke into it, saying, "Sweylin, this is Kosar, we have the children and are returning home. Over."

"Excellent," a voice cooed from the speaker. "Make sure you aren't followed, though. The father was not killed and there was trouble in taking the children. Several of the rescuers were killed and the girl protecting the children survived and is receiving medical aid. I'm attempting to ascertain whether she or any of the family that arrived at the Mario house managed to contact the parents."

"Should we expect them?" Kosar asked. "I was expecting trouble from the Elvanheim or their servants if anyone would trouble us."

"Probably not but don't be too lackadaisical about getting them to their new homes in the Mushroom Kingdom," Sweylin admonished.

"Understood."

With the exchange over, Kosar put the communicator back inside his cloak and quickly made his way down the stairs, followed by his companion, who constantly glanced behind them in order to make sure that they were not being followed. They both knew that they could not afford to lose the children so close to accomplishing their objective. While they figured that it was unlikely that the children's parents would find them, they knew that if they did, it would have been better for the Elvanheim to capture them and decide their fate than face what the children's parents would do to them if they did not return their children to them.

Meanwhile, outside the building, Luca and Mia had already parked their car and exited it. Taking the gun that Mia had brought with her when she went to the hospital, they both made certain that their weapons were fully loaded so that if it came to a firefight to get their children back, they would be adequately prepared for whatever awaited them. Once they were ready, they made their way towards the building.

Inside the building, they saw no sign of their children or their kidnappers. All that they saw was an open door that looked like it led to a stairwell. Wasting no time, they quickly went to the stairwell and listened for the faint echoes of their babies' crying. They heard the faint cries of their children and they deduced that it was coming from below. They then followed the sound to the basement of the school.

Down below the school in the deepest sublevel of the basement, the elves made their way to a metal door that had a green exit sign above it. They were concerned about the noise that the babies were making but did not sense anyone close to them so they felt that they were relatively safe, though the crying of the babies was annoying them and making it difficult to concentrate. When they arrived at the metal door, Kosar's companion handed him Luigi and then pushed the door open. Kosar then rushed through the door, his companion quickly following him. As he followed him, though, his hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end. He looked back into the building and extended his senses but he could see, hear, and feel nothing. Confident enough that he was not being followed, the companion rushed ahead to rejoin Kosar.

Not too far behind, the Marios were in hot pursuit of the elves. As they moved down the steps, Luca began feeling the pain of his cracked ribs and grunted rhythmically with his pursuit of his children's abductors. This did not go unnoticed by Mia as she looked back at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a concerned voice.

Luca did not hide his discomfort but answered, "I'll be good enough to fight those elves if need be." He then wasted no time as he caught up to his wife as they came to the end of the stairwell.

Once they had reached the bottom, they followed the corridor until it came to a metal door with a glowing green exit sign above it. The corridor then split, one to the right, and one to the left. However, they noticed that the door was ajar and, feeling as if they had no other leads, pushed the door open and found themselves looking into a dark underground tunnel.

When they entered the tunnel, they thought that they could hear the cries of their babies echoing throughout the tunnel.

"It's them!" Mia exclaimed, knowing the cries of her own children. Luca nodded and they increased their speed as they rushed down the corridor towards the sound.

Not too far ahead, Kosar rushed ahead with the two children, unaware of the pursuit by the children's parents. His companion, however, was not so oblivious. Despite the cries of the children echoing throughout the tunnel, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand on end. He went over to Kosar and told him, "Pick up the pace, someone's following us."

"I hear nothing," Kosar answered, annoyed at having to hold two children at once and that the operation had been so costly.

"I mean it," the companion stated more forcefully. "We're being pursued."

"We're not far from the Warp Zone," Kosar answered. We'll use the Warp Zone to enter the Pipe Maze and lose our pursuers there."

"Assuming it's humans that are pursuing us and not agents of The Enemy or Koopas," the companion retorted.

Kosar said nothing as they approached a large round green pipe that opened towards them. After running a few hundred meters, he and his companion came upon what looked to be a wall of bright light. Kosar could only smile. He was close to his objective. Once he had crossed the threshold from Earth to Hylia and entered the Pipe Maze, there was no way that his pursuers would be able to find him. He was one of only a few people in the history of Hylia to completely know his way through the Pipe Maze. There was no way that his pursuers would be able to track him. Still, he wanted to take precautions.

"Adair, hang back and stop any pursuers that come our way. If you encounter anyone, alert me at once," Kosar ordered.

"At once," Adair answered.

Kosar then took off his sack and handed it to Adair. "Use everything here to slow down our pursuers."

"Right," came the answer as Adair nodded.

Kosar then took off again, carrying both children in his arms.

Adair waited in the darkness as his pursuers approached. He unslung his sack and took out a short bow, notching an arrow to it, not wanting to use a more powerful but much noisier gun since that could theoretically alert people on the surface that there was a problem in an underground tunnel, which would cause them to come and investigate. Using his keen elfin eyesight, he was able to catch sight of his pursuers despite the darkness. When he focused his gaze on the pursuers, he noticed that they were human: one male, the other female. He swore at the sight of them, for given their age and how far they had pursued them, he figured that they had to be the children's parents.

He quickly went to draw a bead on the two humans and notched an arrow to his bow's bowstring. He then got a clear picture of the humans and got a clear bead on the humans. He then took a deep breath and exhaled as he pulled back on the bowstring. Once he was sure of his aim, he released the bowstring and let fly with the arrow. The arrow streaked through the air, propelled not only by the bowstring but also by the magic of the elf. Unfortunately for Adair, though, his aim was off and the arrow soared just between the two humans.

Back down the pipe, Luca and Mia were continuing their pursuit of the kidnappers when they heard a whistling sound echo throughout the pipe. The source of the sound was clear as an arrow whizzed by Luca's left ear, missing him by maybe a millimeter. The arrow clattered on the floor a few dozen meters away, the echo making it sound much closer. The man immediately dove to his right while Mia dove to her left and hugged the pipe's wall.

Luca then drew his side arm, a quaint laser pistol, and took aim throughout the darkness. He adjusted the power setting of the laser so that if he accidentally hit either of his children, they would not be harmed. He then made his first shot into the darkness, using it more as a flashlight so as to illuminate his target and see if he was carrying either of his babies. A scarlet bolt of energy streaked through the darkness and managed to strike the elf but his armor protected him from the weak stun effect. However, the blast had done its job. In that instant, both Luca and Mia saw that there was no indication of their attacker having either of their children. With no need to worry about harming his children, Luca set the power to full and fired again, striking the elf in the chest. This time, the blast burned through the elf's armor as if it had been nothing more than tissue paper. The elf did not even give off a cry as he crumpled and fell to the floor, either dead or severely injured. The two humans did not care if he lived or died; all they cared about was getting their children back. They then rushed past the fallen elf, who was, indeed, dead, and continued on in hot pursuit of their children.

Not too far down the pipe tunnel, the two came upon a bright wall of light. They only paused for a moment, glancing at each other before nodding, silently affirming that they would both go through what was obviously a portal of some sort. They then checked their weapons, seeing that they were fully charged and ready to fire. Then, without any hesitation, they charged into the light.

Upon emerging from the light, they found themselves in what could only be described as a sewer system. They were standing on a ledge just left of a stream that carried all sorts of garbage from empty cans to other, less sanitary, pieces of trash. They both knew to avoid walking in the water or drinking from it if at all possible. Looking ahead, they found that there were pipes all throughout the tunnel. As they listened to their surroundings, they could easily hear the sound of running water. They listened to see if their babies' cries were also echoing throughout this maze of pipes. After listening for a few seconds, they caught the sound of their babies' cries and with a nod towards each other, surged ahead.

Not too far ahead, Kosar continued to run through the pipe maze, keeping his ears and other senses open for any signs of pursuit, for enemies often fell into the Pipe Maze either by accident or to look for shortcuts to enemy territory. His magical senses quickly picked up on the fact that he no longer sensed Adair through the portal, as well as the fact that two others were quickly coming towards him.

"Blast the luck," he muttered. "Those pursuers got past him."

He continued ahead and went through one of the pipe tunnels at the end of the corridor and quickly emerged in a new corridor. He tried to think but the babies' crying was beginning to grate on him.

"Shut up!" he commanded the babies.

They did not obey him. He could only shrug with resignation as he realized that they were not going to stop crying while he was rushing through the dirty Pipe Maze with them. "I have to get these kids to the stork so it can deliver them to their new parents," he muttered.

As he had muttered those words, though, he quickly extended his senses to see how far he had to travel. Excellent, he did not have to go far. The pipe that led to the final stork was close. More importantly, though, was the fact that there was a warp pipe that led to the Koopa Kingdom, as well as one that led to the Mushroom Kingdom very close to the first pipe. Chances were that the parents would take the wrong pipe and he would be home free.

He continued through the Pipe Maze and eventually came to the pipe that led to the Stork Stop where the final stork would take the babies and deliver them to their new parents. He would have preferred to have delivered the babies to their new parents himself, but Sweylin had been adamant that the stork had to be the one to make the delivery. It had something to do about the superstitions of the Mushroom Kingdom and it surrounding areas. As such, he would follow his commander's orders. When he arrived at the pipe he came to a stop and looked around, wanting to make sure that no one was within sight. He knew that he would have to throw off his pursuers to give himself more time to get away from them and get the children away from them. As such, he put the babies down for a moment and pulled out a magic wand. Kosar then chanted in his native language and then waved the magic wand. The sounds of the babies' crying soon echoed throughout the pipe and out of the exact opposite pipe that he was going to enter. Then, after putting his magic wand away, he scooped up the babies and carried them through the pipe to his right.

When he emerged from the pipe, he found himself on what looked to be a deserted island, save for the large stork standing on top of a yellow sign with an image of a stork on it. Next to the stork was what looked to be an advanced flying device that was far in advance of any device known to the world of Hylia. Kosar immediately took the children to the stork and laid them at the stork's feet. Then, undoing his sack, he took out a cloth and wrapped the two babies in the cloth. As he did so, the babies had miraculously stopped crying. Still, it was a little too late in his mind. He was still concerned about the people pursuing him. He then handed them to the stork, sternly asking, "You know who these children go to, do you not?"

The stork nodded. "They go to their adoptive parents," the bird answered clearly. "They're orphans, if I remember correctly."

Kosar nodded. "Make sure that nothing happens to them. These children are important and there has already been one attempt on their lives. If anyone asks about them, refer to them as twins. Their identities must remain secret until they are safely with their parents," the elf explained. He then handed the stork a map, putting it in the cloth with the two children. "This is a map to the house that has the adoptive parents of these children."

"Don't worry, sir. I'll make sure they get to their parents in the Mushroom Kingdom safe and sound."

"All the same, I'll be coming with you for backup. I'll stay back far enough to cover you just in case there are any unforeseen enemies that come for the children."

The stork nodded and then spread his wings. He then flapped his wings and took off into the sky. Once he was high in the sky, the stork turned and headed north towards the Mushroom Kingdom, flying towards Yoshi's Island, which he would have to cross first. However, there was no real cause for concern. The only inhabitants of Yoshi's Island were kind and gentle dinosaurs called Yoshis. They would offer no trouble. Kosar immediately went onto his skimmer and pushed a series of buttons. It then rose off the ground with barely a sound. Then, after a second, it rocketed up into the sky and flew after the stork, Kosar being careful to remain a couple hundred meters away so he could cover the stork. He was so close to accomplishing his mission. He would not blow it now. Little did he know, though, that his arrival had not gone unnoticed. An enemy was already in motion and fast approaching his position, being keen to keep his presence undetected until it was too late.

Meanwhile, back in the Pipe Maze, Luca and Mia quickly arrived at the crossroads in the Pipe Maze. They saw three pipes before them: one in front and one on each side of them. The parents listened for any signs of sound to have any idea of where to go. As they listened, they thought that they could hear the sounds of their babies' crying from the left pipe. Mia rushed to the pipe but was held back by Luca. "Wait!" he cried.

"But our children…" Mia began.

"That's the echo," Luca explained quickly. "I've been working in pipes all my life. Follow me."

Mia nodded and followed Luca as he made his way into the pipe on their right. The family quickly drew their weapons as they made their way through the pipe, hoping to reach their children and save them before they were out of reach.

When they emerged from the pipe, they found themselves standing on a small island. They saw the same Stork Stop sign that Kosar had when he had arrived with the babies a few minutes earlier. However, they found no sign of their babies or the elves that had taken them. As they scanned their area, Mia looked up in the sky and caught sight of a stork flying away from the island. Not too far away from the stork was what looked to be a crude looking skimmer. She quickly saw the bundle hanging from the stork's beak and she called to her husband, "Luca, I've found them!"

She pointed up at the stork and her husband quickly turned his gaze up towards the stork. As he did so, he pointed his gun at the stork for a fleeting instant before lowering it, knowing that it would be fruitless to try to shoot down the stork, knowing that doing so would doom his children as well. "What now?" he asked.

The two of them then looked out over the ocean and saw a large island off in the distance. The island looked to be a lush tropical island but it looked to be very far away, close to the horizon, which meant that it was at least several miles away. Scanning the island, they saw that there were no vehicles or boats for them to use to try to track down the stork. Still, Luca remembered seeing something in the Pipe Maze. "We have to go back," he told Mia.

"What? We're just giving up?"

"No," Luca answered. "I remembered seeing a pipe in that maze of pipes we emerged in. Perhaps that pipe leads to the island off in the distance. It's better than just standing here and doing nothing."

Mia nodded in agreement. Wasting no time, the two retreated back into the pipe that they had entered from and returned to the Pipe Maze. Once they reentered the Pipe Maze, they turned to their right and proceeded to enter the large pipe ahead of them, hoping to reach the island that the stork and the elf were flying over in order to intercept them and get their children back before tracking them down would be next to impossible.

Meanwhile, up in the air out over the sea, the stork continued to fly towards the Mushroom Kingdom. He was approaching Yoshi's Island, which was just south of the Mushroom Kingdom, being escorted by Kosar on his antiquated skimmer. Kosar smiled as he took his leisurely ride, staying far enough back to cover the stork on the off chance that someone had followed him. For a fleeting instant he had sensed the arrival of the human pursuers, but had quickly sensed them vanish. He gave another smile. Excellent. They had been thrown off the trail. It would be clear sailing from here.

Everything changed in an instant, as well as ending for the elf, as a magic trio of geometric shapes came out of nowhere and struck the skimmer in its center of mass. The skimmer was shattered and exploded in midair, instantly killing Kosar. The pieces of the skimmer fell down into the ocean, making a series of splashes as the wreckage hit the water.

The stork was shocked by the sudden explosion of the skimmer and looked back at the scene, spotting a figure wearing blue robes and a blue pointy hat riding a broomstick rocketing towards him. The stork gave a squawk of surprise at the appearance of the Magikoopa Kamek. "The babies are mine!" the Magikoopa cried.

Kamek immediately swooped in and grabbed the cloth, attempting to wrest it free from the stork's beak. He managed to pull the cloth free and wrap it up. However, as he did so, he did not notice Mario wiggling in the cloth. Once he had managed to wrap the cloth and subdue it, Kamek gave a whistle. Immediately, a quartet of red-robed miniature Magikoopas with propellers appeared and flew towards the Magikoopa. When they arrived, Kamek handed the sack with the children and instructed them, "Take them back to Prince Bowser's Castle on Yoshi's Island. These children will be our bane if we cannot raise them to be our soldiers."

The Toadies nodded and flew off with the sack. Kamek the finished his mission by firing a single blast of magic at the stork, stunning it and causing it to fall from the sky. However, before it could crash into the water, and possibly to its death, the Magikoopa fired another beam from his wand and used it to stop the fall of the stork. With the stork safely in tow, Kamek began to fly away, with his Toadies flying behind him. However as the Toadies began to fly away, Mario managed to slip free of the cloth and fall from the sky, clutching the map to his would be adoptive parents, neither Kamek nor his Toadies being aware of his escape.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Luca and Mia emerged from the pipe and found themselves standing in the middle of a barren desert. Looking around, they could tell that they were not on the island that they were hoping to find themselves on, for there were a sparse number of trees, all of which were spread very thinly across the landscape. Studying the land a bit more, they looked off into the distance and found a large sandy mountain that had two small black dots on them that looked like eyes. Looking up into the sky, they saw that even the clouds had the same little black eyes. There was a feeling of cheer that the two humans could not feel at the moment due to their concerns over getting their children. The two glanced at each other and sighed.

"This is not the island we saw from the previous location," Luca noted.

Mia made no comment, her angry nod being her only answer.

"Any idea where we go from here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Mia answered with an angry sigh. She could not believe that the elves had managed to take their children from them despite their precautions. She was kicking herself for not taking the children with her to the hospital. At least Madeline would not have been injured and if the babies were taken, it would have been over her dead body.

The two humans slumped forward a bit and both sighed. The stork had escaped with their children and they had no idea where it was going to take them. They did not even know where to begin. They were on an alien world with no idea what the people were like and no idea on what the language spoken was.

Their thoughts soon turned back to how to find their children and get them back. They knew that the only real chance they would have of taking back their children would be to find out where the stork was headed and either intercept it as it was making its delivery or infiltrate the location where it was headed and fight the elves, or whoever the kidnappers were serving, in order to get them back. The latter option would undoubtedly be more difficult in the long run since there were only two of them and who knew how many elves or other beings standing against them to keep their children since their children had a destiny in this world. They hoped that it would take the stork a long time to make its delivery so that they would have more time to intercept it and get their children back while facing minimum resistance, which would increase their chances exponentially. The first thing they had to do, though, was find some form of civilization.

Looking around the landscape some more, they hoped to find a road or some houses so they could begin the process of searching for any leads on their children but could see nothing within view. It appeared as if this area was uninhabited. The two glanced at each other once more and then decided to pick a direction. Once they had picked a direction, the two began to walk, hoping that they would find something that could lead them to a road, or better yet, someone who could do the same.

Meanwhile, a few minutes after the Marios had begun their journey in this world, Sweylin emerged from the warp pipe that had lead to the small island that the duo had initially emerged on and looked around. He had not liked having to play catch up with the humans, but he did not want to run the risk of the human police force or military having been alerted to the kidnapping. With the injury to that human girl during the taking of the children, who it turned out would survive, as well as the reports of the kidnapping of the babies, Sweylin knew that it would only have been a matter of time before the hideout for his team had been found along with the portal leading to the world of Hylia. As such, he had been forced to remain behind in order to close all access points that lead to Hylia and the Mushroom Kingdom, for that was the most likely exit point for the humans.

Using his magic, he attempted to ascertain what had happened here and where the humans had gone. Closing his eyes for a second, he opened them once again. When they opened, his normal eyes were gone, replaced by glowing white portals that led to incredible magical powers. Using his clairvoyance he saw the events where the stork emerged from the pipe, along with the elf that had come to escort the stork. He smiled until he saw Kamek's attack over Yoshi's Island and the taking of the younger baby, with the older one being lost to the island below.

Sweylin's eyes went wide with disbelief. He had been so close to delivering the babies to their new parents, only to have them be stolen by the Koopas, specifically Kamek. This was an absolute worst-case scenario. Not only was the lost baby likely being held in a fortified castle that would require a full-scale assault in order to overcome, along with the other child being lost completely, but the children's parents had been proven right mere seconds after emerging into the Mushroom World. If he and his people could not protect the babies from a single Magikoopa, then what would the Elvanheim and their servants do if they came through the portal and entered the Mushroom World?

Just when he thought that things could not possibly get any worse, he heard a chime echo from inside his cloak. "Oh no," he muttered as he took out a round cylindrical device and saw its top flashing, indicating that someone was trying to contact him. He heaved a heavy sigh as he pushed the activation button and spoke into the communicator, saying, "Yes?"

"Is everything alright Sweylin?" a voice Sweylin recognized as King Exion asked. "Have you confirmed that the Chosen Heroes are safe?"

This was it. He sighed as he answered, "A problem has arisen."

"What sort of problem?" Exion asked.

"The Koopas went to the Real World and took the Mario babies from their parents," he lied. "We tried to retrieve the babies but Kamek intercepted Kosar and the stork and killed Kosar while capturing the stork."

He could almost hear Exion suppress his groan. "Return to the palace at once Sweylin. We'll have to consider our next course of action from here."

"But sire, what about the Elvanheim?" the elf protested. "The fight will have almost certainly alerted the Elvanheim to the presence of Chosen Heroes on Earth, if not our own presence there. I have to close off the Warp Zone so that we can prevent the Elvanheim from finding us."

"You can do that later," Exion answered forcefully. "Right now, the problem is that the Koopas have the Mario babies." There was a brief pause before Exion asked, "What is the status of the Marios' parents? Did they survive the attack?"

"I think so," Sweylin answered. "There were no reports of them dying."

"Then we must find them immediately. They'll be looking for their children. We have to help them get them back."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Sweylin asked. "After all, they were unable to ward off a Koopa assault."

"The authorities on Earth will now know to look out for Koopas if this assault is true," Exion answered, causing Sweylin to sweat. "Anyway, the children belong to the parents and if they are to become heroes, they should be raised by their own parents or closest living blood relatives. A strong family unit is more likely to raise strong children with a strong morals and values."

"But should we not be the ones to raise the children?" Sweylin asked. "Back in Skypolis, we…"

"And leave them open to Koopa assault?" Exion interjected. "We've had this discussion before. There is more than one reason to make sure that the babies are _not_ separated from their birth parents in any way. Now, report back at once. We'll need your report on everything that happened during the attack."

"Yes, my liege," Sweylin answered, trying to suppress his dark tone, and failing. He deactivated the communicator and let out a sigh. "You're a fool Exion. Those children are only human. Humans are weak. We need the babies raised by our people and taught our customs or they will be easy pickings for corruption by the Elvanheim and/or other evil forces."

Once he had finished, he took out a small scroll from underneath his cloak. He then opened it and let the paper fall all the way to the ground. Once it had, he read the scroll, the words being written in the ancient language of the elves. After finishing, both he and the scroll vanished from sight, the elf returning to Skypolis to make his report.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Luca and Mia continued to walk through the barren desert in search of a road that would hopefully take them towards some sort of civilization. They had been walking for at least half an hour and had not found any signs of civilization yet. The clear skies and shining sun were wasted on the dour parents.

"It's no good, we're getting nowhere," Luca eventually said.

Mia nodded in agreement but was not ready to turn back. "And what do you suggest?" Mia asked harshly. "The other exit led to an island where we'd have to swim across an ocean to reach an island miles away. By the time we reached that island, the stork would be so long gone it would be worthless."

"Well it's better than being in the middle of nowhere not one step closer to finding our children," Luca retorted just as harshly.

Mia grimaced but she knew that he was right and simply gave a defeated sigh. Going back to the island was not an option, and yet it looked as if they were not making any headway in their search for their children here, either. They needed to rethink their strategy if things did not change very soon. However, things were about to change drastically, and give them hope for finding their children.

As they were continuing on their trek, they came upon a large rock. As soon as they were within about ten yards of the rock, a humanoid figure dressed in a red robe and hood with a white mask covering his face stepped out and charged towards the two humans. The figure was shorter than the humans and did not look all that imposing to them despite the mask. The figure's gaze darted between the two humans and he quickly zeroed in on Luca, figuring that he likely carried more money, and that he would likely be the more dangerous opponent.

As soon as the figure reached Luca, he attempted to reach into Luca's pockets and steal whatever coins the human had. The human, however, merely thrust his hand out and pushed the bandit away far more easily than either Luca or the Bandit had expected. As the Bandit stumbled backwards, Luca and Mia could see the look of shock on his face. He then gave a gasp.

"Man, what gives? Don't you people have any coins on you?" the Bandit blurted in annoyance. However, his complaint merely hid his shock at the human's strength from them. The last thing he wanted was for them to think that they could beat him if it came to a fight.

Luca and Mia did were not concerned with the Bandit's desires and simply began to walk past the Bandit shaking their heads. However, hope had returned to them since they knew that thieves would not stay too far away from potential victims, so there had to be either a base, city or at least a road that led to a settlement close by. The Bandit was not happy and gritted his teeth.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" he cried as he rose.

The two humans ignored the Bandit as they walked away, still keeping their guards up in case the Bandit decided to become violent with them. The Bandit did not take kindly to this and he called after the two humans, "You know, you may not have any coins, but you could probably earn some for me, especially the girl."

That got the attention of the two humans and as one they turned back to the Bandit. "Walk away," Luca instructed calmly yet sternly, trying to defuse the situation.

Mia, however, was not so eager to let it go just yet. She took a menacing step forward before she stopped for a second and a plan came to her mind. "You've got backup, right?" she asked curiously.

Luca raised his eyebrows at his wife and went over to her, whispering, "What are you doing?"

"Play along," the wife directed.

She then turned back to the Bandit and listened as he replied, "Maybe."

"Excellent," Mia answered. "You know that we don't have any coins on us at the moment. However, we do have money. Right now, it's only paper, but we could go back and get some gold if necessary."

"Why should I wait when you could start earnin' us some major coinage right now?" the Bandit retorted.

"Because I'm a mother who has lost her children," Mia answered. She then made her offer. "You help us find and/or retrieve our babies, and we will pay you whatever price you want, no strings attached. We'll exchange our paper money for coins and if not, we'll come by the coins some other way." She then paused and emphasized, "Whatever price you want. You name it, we'll pay it, no matter what it takes." Her grin told the bandit that she was being honest but that there was also a menacing tone behind her offer. This was her only offer and if he reneged and tried to take her as a slave or servant, or tried to sell her children if he and any of his cohorts found them, she would make him pay.

The Bandit, however, was intrigued by her offer, as well as the humans' predicament. "Okay, so where are these babies?"

"They were last seen flying over an island," came Luca's answer.

"Wow, that narrows it down," the Bandit answered sarcastically.

"We were standing on a smaller island," Mia added.

The Bandit then smiled. "Excellent," he said evilly as he turned to Mia. "But it's not gonna be enough to save you," the Bandit sneered. "You may have some kids, but without coins, you'll never be able to pay me off, even if you've got some fancy tech or IOUs. And if you don't have the right bills, you'll never get coins. But with your looks, you could earn me some hefty coin, heh heh heh."

The Bandit then grabbed Mia and grinned sadistically as he jerked the human woman. Mia did not take kindly to this and with blinding speed, jabbed her hand into the Bandit's throat. The attack caught the Bandit completely off guard and he reflexively grabbed his throat, gagging as he staggered backwards before a side kick from the woman knocked him to the ground. The Bandit struggled to breathe as he writhed on the ground. Luca and Mia walked past the Bandit, ignoring him as they continued their search for any signs of civilization. However, hope had returned once more since they knew that the presence of bandits meant that there either had to be either a well-traveled road, or a settlement of some sort nearby.

The two humans continued walking for five more minutes, each of them scanning their surroundings and keeping their ears open as they walked, wanting to make sure that they would not be caught off guard by more bandits. It slowed their pace down a bit but they did not want to be waylaid by another Bandit or a group of them. So far, though, all they could hear were birds chirping and the faint rustling of tall grass as the wind blew over it. Each rustle caused them to take note of the sound and location, for some patches of grass were tall enough to conceal a person. Still, they were careful to avoid going anywhere near large stones, for they knew that such stones could be, and likely were, concealing bandits or other undesirables.

After about another minute of walking, they began to see a long yellow line break the sandy landscape in the distance. They quickly surmised that it was a road of some sort. Even if it was made of sand, they suspected that it would lead them to a settlement of some kind. The only issue was that there were several large gray stones along the path that led to the road, each of the stones being more than large enough to conceal a Bandit.

Sure enough, as they approached the stones, several more Bandits emerged from behind the stones and formed a line in front of the humans. These Bandits, however, wore different colored robes and hoods than the first one, for five of the Bandits wore red robes and hoods, while two Bandits wore green robes and hoods while one last Bandit wore a purple robe and hood. They each had the same white mask over their faces, though. Luca and Mia stopped and drew out their firearms, pointing them at the Bandits.

"Stay back," Luca warned the larcenists. "We don't have any coins for you and we don't want any trouble."

The purple Bandit stepped forward and gave a chuckle. "Heh, heh, heh. Don't worry. We don't need your coins. Your items will do nicely. But as for trouble, I'd have to say that we won't be able to oblige you on that. I could definitely find a good use for that pretty blonde," the Bandit added with a lecherous grin.

"I'd like to see you try," Mia dared, glaring at the bandit and grinning, relishing the opportunity to vent her frustrations by means of battle.

"You're a little outnumbered here, babe," the Bandit retorted, turning his head towards his comrades and then swinging it back to the humans. "Surrender now and we promise not to hurt you, much."

Mia simply glared at the Bandit and cocked her weapon, proceeding to level her gun at the Bandit. Then, one of the red-robed Bandits decided to jump the gun and rushed towards the humans, drawing out a large orange flower with a green stem, green leaves, and black dots for eyes in the center of the flower. Figuring that it was a weapon of some sort, Mia immediately fired on the Bandit, a loud bang sounding as her gun discharged its metal slug. The Bandit's robes were woefully inadequate to protect him from the bullet and the Bandit fell forward as soon as the bullet had struck him in the chest, the thief dropping the Fire Flower in the process.

The rest of the Bandits then proceeded to go on the offensive. They each revealed their own attack items, mostly more Fire Flowers, along with a couple of Thunderbolts, clouds with bolts of lightning, and placed them in front of them to activate them. Luca and Mia proceeded to open fire on the bandits, felling the purple-robed Bandit and a green-robed Bandit with a hail of gun and laser fire. The Fire Flowers of the other Bandits quickly activated, though, and began unleashing volley after volley of small fireballs at the humans, causing them to quickly dive to the ground and search for cover while avoiding the endless stream of fire. They quickly spotted a series of rocks that would provide sufficient cover and they ran over to them on all fours, diving behind them, miraculously avoiding any hits from the fireballs, which were flying all around them and striking the ground right at their feet. As soon as they took cover, they uttered silent prayers of thanks that they had managed to reach cover alive and unharmed.

Just as they had taken cover, several lightning bolts came crashing down upon the rocks, one of which they were hiding behind. The bolts of lightning shattered the smaller rocks and scorched the larger rocks, gouging large smoking holes into the rocks and leaving black char marks on them. The danger for the humans, though, was the electricity that would spread out from the points of impact and electrocute them. They dove back a few meters to hopefully avoid taking any damage from the electricity. As they did so, they heard one of the Bandits, a green-robed bandit, cry, "There!"

Looking forward, they saw the Bandit pointing at them, directing the other Bandits. "Got it, big boss," the other Bandits answered their new leader. The other Bandits then proceeded to draw out more items. This prompted Mia and Luca to open fire on the Bandits once more. Their next barrage of fire managed to take down the Big Bandit, but the four remaining Bandits managed to take cover behind more rocks. They responded by placing a blue snowflake with eyes on the ground that produced a blizzard of snow and ice directed at them. The humans were immediately buffeted by the wind and snow and quickly took cover behind a rock a few meters away in order to shield them from the ice and wind. Once they took cover, they hid behind the rock, shivering, waiting for the blizzard to die down.

As the blizzard died down they went to emerge from cover to continue the battle. As they did so, though, they heard the sounds of vehicles approaching, along with the sounds of people on the march. High-pitched voices could be heard as well. "Oh no, the Toad Guard is here. Scram!" they heard one of the Bandits call out.

The Bandits immediately fled in all directions, seeking cover behind any rock they could find. The two humans watched on in curiosity and hope as the Bandits fled. After a few moments, they saw a group of new people arrive. These were clearly not Bandits. These people were about the same size as the Bandits, though, vaguely resembling human children but looking a little plump and wearing white polka-dotted mushroom caps. Most of the figures had red polka dots on their caps but some had blue and yellow polka dots on their caps. They also had short, stubby feet and were wearing brown shoes. Some of them wore vests with large white diaper-like pieces of clothing as pants while others wore mantles and were equipped with spears and shields. The humans correctly suspected that they were the Toads that the Bandits were referring to. Most of the Bandits were able to escape but one of them tripped and fell to the ground with a thud. Two of the Toads jumped onto the Bandit to hold him down and tie him up. Once that was finished, they began to lead him back to where they had come from.

As they were leading the captive Bandit away, they stopped and the other Toads quickly formed up around another Toad that was rushing to the scene. This Toad wore a red vest with the same white diaper-like pants that some of the other Toads wore, but this one had a brown mustache as well as brown spots on his mushroom cap. He looked around at the scene and spotted the captive Bandit and gave a nod of approval to the Toad guards that were holding him.

"Good work," he congratulated.

"Thank you venerable Toadsworth, sir," the Toad guards answered, bowing.

"What happened to the rest of the Bandits?" Toadsworth asked.

"They scattered," the Toad guards answered.

"Hey, we've got two new arrivals I've never seen before!" another Toad called over to Toadsworth.

Toadsworth and the other Toads looked up and turned to the sound of the Toad who was pointing at Luca and Mia, who were emerging from behind their cover. They both still had their weapons in their hands, which caused most of the Toads, save for the Toad guards, to back away from them and cower. The humans quickly lowered and then holstered their weapons and told the Toads, "Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm. If anything, we owe you all our lives."

The Toads continued to shake as they looked at the humans, who smiled kindly at them. Toadsworth quickly went up to them and said, "Don't worry about them. If they wanted to hurt us, they would have attacked us the moment we scattered the Bandits."

Toadsworth's assurances were enough to get the Toads to stop cowering and stand back up. The obviously higher-ranking Toad could only give an awkward smile. "Sorry about that," he told the two humans. "The guards can sometimes get a little frightened."

"It's alright," Luca replied, stepping forward towards Toadsworth.

"So, who are you?" Toadsworth asked.

"My name is Luca," the man answered.

"And I'm Mia," the woman volunteered. "And we're searching for our children."

"I see," Toadsworth began. "And what happened to them?"

"They were kidnapped by…"

"Venerable Toadsworth, over here!" one of the Toad guards called, rushing over to his leader and the humans, interrupting Mia mid-sentence.

"Sorry," Toadsworth said as he went over to the Toad.

Luca and Mia followed the Toad's leader as he ran over to the Toad, who was standing over the fallen Bandit wearing the purple robe along with a couple of other Toads. Not too far away were the two dead Bandits in green robes.

"He's dead," the Toad guard said in a somber tone.

"Your handiwork?" Toadsworth asked, turning to Luca and Mia.

The two humans nodded.

Two Toad guards then approached the humans hesitantly, their spears drawn. "Sir, these humans have admitted to killing a Badge Bandit," one of the Toad guards said. "Chances are that those two Big Bandits were also victims of the humans."

Toadsworth looked at the scene and casually replied, "It looks like self defense to me." He then turned to the two humans and said, "It was self defense, right?"

Luca and Mia nodded. "We encountered a Bandit a ways away from here," Mia began. "He attacked us but we managed to defeat him and get past him. Eventually, we came to this area where we were ambushed by these Bandits. They were armed with flowers that emitted streams of fireballs as well as clouds that fired lightning bolts. We took down one Bandit dressed in red robes, the purple-robed Bandit and the two green-robed Bandits before you arrived and the others scattered."

"Then we should get out of here and get to the train as soon as possible. Bandits may be easily warded off by groups, but if they sense that someone has coins or riches, they'll quickly return and in greater numbers," Toadsworth stated sagely.

Toadsworth then went over to the rest of the Toads and told them, "Bury the dead quickly. We need to get back to the train as quickly as possible."

"Yes sir," the Toads answered as they quickly got to work burying the dead Bandits.

As Toadsworth went over to the rest of the guards to keep watch and make sure that the Bandits did not return too quickly, one of the Toads went over to him and asked, "What about the humans?"

Toadsworth looked back at Luca and Mia and said, "You said that you were looking for your children, am I right?"

The humans nodded. "Can you help us?"

"Possibly," the Toad answered. "But we'll have to take you to the castle."

"Wait, are you sure?" one of the Toads asked nervously. "Judging from the weapons these humans are using, they're from Earth. How do we know we can trust them?"

"They're looking for their children," Toadsworth answered. "And besides, if they wanted to hurt us, they could have already done so. I think we should hear them out. They said they were having troubles."

"Yes, mister, Toadsworth was it?" Mia asked.

Toadsworth nodded. "Yes."

"Well anyway, our children were kidnapped by elves earlier this evening," Mia began. "We managed to track them to a tunnel that led into a maze of pipes that took us here. We first emerged from one pipe on a small island within visual distance of a much larger island. However, the elves had managed to convince a stork to carry the children and it was carrying them over the island. We went back through the first pipe and emerged in this desert area."

"That's unfortunate," Toadsworth commented. "This desert is crawling with Bandits and Pokeys and Mount Rugged isn't much better with its Clefts and Monty Moles. Still, there is a train there that can take us to Toad Town. Once there, we can hopefully help you find your children."

"Thank you, mister Toadsworth, sir," Mia replied.

"Please, just Toadsworth," came the Toad's reply.

With that, the humans followed Toadsworth as he turned around and led them down the trail that they hoped led to this Mount Rugged. As they followed after Toadsworth, the other Toads that had accompanied the obviously higher-ranking Toad followed suit and quickly rushed after him.

Not too long into their trek, they came across a wooden bridge that spanned a large chasm. On the other side of the chasm was a large mountain. Luca and Mia thought that they could see a trail on the mountain so they hoped that they would have some cover from any undesirables that may be out to get any visitors. Looking out over the chasm, there was a nest off in the distance with a large vulture-like bird studying them but the bird made no moves as the group crossed the bridge. The Toads nervously crossed the bridge, the armor of the Toad guards creaking as they shook, their spears wobbly in their hands.

Once they had crossed the bridge, the group found itself on Mount Rugged. True to its name, it consisted of large stones that jutted out at various points. Still, lying before the Toads was a trail that led down the mountain. Along the trail, though, the group spotted several suspicious-looking gray stones. Toadsworth held up his hands and everyone came to a stop.

"Halt, we've got Clefts up ahead, and probably some Monty Moles too" he alerted everyone.

"Clefts?" Luca asked.

"Burly rock monsters that are resistant to many weapons. Spikes can emerge from the Clefts, making them even more dangerous if one tries to jump on them," the Toad answered. Toadsworth then turned to one of the Toads and told him, "Get that POW Block out. We'll use it to knock the Clefts upside down. Then they'll be helpless for quite a while."

"Yes sir," the Toad answered as he took out a large black block with the letters P-O-W on it, spelling "POW". He then gave the block to Toadsworth.

"Stand back, everyone," Toadsworth called as he placed the block above his head. He then jumped and struck the block with his head. A massive "POW" sounded and the ground in front of Toadsworth and the others quickly shook. The shaking lasted for less than a second, but the POW Block had done its job. All of the Clefts were immediately launched into the air end over end and landed on their backs, their stubby feet flailing about, unable to reach the ground. The group then proceeded to make their way down the mountain. Along the way, they came across a few holes with some dazed mole-like creatures that Luca figured were the aforementioned Monty Moles.

Thanks to the POW Block, the trip down Mount Rugged was free of any incident. Once the group was down the mountain, they saw a railroad in the distance, along with a train sitting near a small station. "Alright, what luck!" Toadsworth exclaimed. "We made it to the train station while a train was here."

The other Toads quickly jumped for joy and rushed towards the train, carefully minding the crossing just behind the train. Toadsworth could only give a kind smile as he rushed after his subordinates. Luca and Mia also took off after Toadsworth, not wanting to lose him and the Toads as they got to the train.

Once they arrived at the train station, they could see several Toads standing about the platform. Some of the Toads were dressed in turbans and desert clothing, while others had their normal mushroom caps and vests. Toadsworth and the humans arrived at the boarding platform just as the train's conductor, a Toad dressed in a black suit called out, "Anyone else coming aboard? The destination is Toad Town."

"Wait!" Toadsworth cried as he arrived, breathing heavily. Luca and Mia arrived right behind him breathing normally. They were used to running around after Mario and were not going to let anything like fatigue stop them from finding and rescuing their children.

As Toadsworth arrived, the conductor recognized him and stammered, "Venerable Toadsworth, sir." He then paused as he saluted Toadsworth and then asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Just allow us to board the train. I'll pay for the fare."

"This trip is free," the conductor stated. "We're leaving in a few minutes, so hop onboard and find a seat to your liking."

"Thank you," Toadsworth answered. Luca and Mia also echoed Toadsworth's thanks, though the conductor was surprised to see two humans accompanying Toadsworth and his Toad guard. The group quickly found places to sit, which Luca and Mia sitting close to Toadsworth.

After a few minutes, the conductor made one last check to see if anyone else was coming onboard. When he was sure that the last of his passengers had embarked onto the train, he closed the entrances and pulled the train whistle's chord, the train giving out a loud whistle. "Next stop, Toad Town!" he called out to the passengers.

As the train started to move, Mia turned to Toadsworth and asked, "How long will the trip to Toad Town take?"

"It should take a few hours or so. You can use this opportunity to get some rest."

The humans decided to take Toadsworth's advice and they sat back in their seats and relaxed. After a few minutes, they began to rest, knowing that the hardest part of their journey was about to come.

Meanwhile, over in Skypolis, Sweylin was in the midst of making his report to King Exion, who was flanked by two guards dressed in shiny metal armor, wielding spears that had openings beneath the blades, indicating that they were also ranged weapons as well. The king had not been happy to hear that the babies had been kidnapped. And he was less than satisfied with Sweylin's answers. "Sire, there were too many Koopas for us to be able to overcome and there was also the fact that the human authorities were tracking us," Sweylin said, pleading his case. "We managed to intercept the initial Koopa strike force and take the children to a stork so that they could be taken to safety but the stork was intercepted by Kamek and Kosar was killed in the attack."

"How were the Koopas able to infiltrate Earth in the first place?" Exion demanded, showing that he found Sweylin's scenario unlikely.

"They must have used magic," Sweylin answered. "Kamek is clairvoyant and precognitive, so he could have known all of the holes in Earth's security."

"And how would he get past the psychics on Earth? There is a large number of so-called Psychic-type Pokémon, along with a number of confirmed human psychics. If Kamek attempted to get to Earth with ill intentions, he would find it difficult to say the least."

"And what do you think happened?" Sweylin asked, masking his annoyance.

"I don't know," Exion answered. "But I doubt that the Koopas were the ones that initially kidnapped the babies. They must have gotten the babies from another source, one that was already on Earth. Maybe they gave the babies to the Koopas, maybe the Koopas took them."

Sweylin began to sweat. "And who do you think did initially take them if not the Koopas?"

"You would know better than I," Exion answered. "Still, we must do all in our power to make sure that the babies are retrieved from the Koopas safely and soundly."

"It shall be done," Sweylin declared loudly.

"See that it is."

"Yes, sire," Sweylin said, bowing. He then rose, turned, and departed from Exion's throne room. As he left, Exion's gaze narrowed onto the elf. The king knew that there was something that Sweylin was hiding from him and he was beginning to grow suspicious of the soldier. Sweylin was very zealous in doing anything that could destroy the Elvanheim and Exion was beginning to fear that Sweylin would resort to underhanded means in order to make sure that the Chosen Heroes would not be spotted by the Enemy, even if it meant kidnapping them and brainwashing them.

Outside the throne room, Sweylin was seething. He could not understand why Exion would not authorize him to simply take the Mario children and bring them to Skypolis. He also knew now beyond a shadow of a doubt that if the king ever learned of what he had done, he would be executed. To make matters worse, there was no way he could go to Yoshi's Island and take the children back by force. He did not have the numbers or the power to go up against Kamek if the Magikoopa was on guard. He then sighed and remembered that he had to close off the Warp Zone so the Mario parents would not be able to track their children to Hylia, as well as make it harder for any agents of the Elvanheim to do the same. He gave a grunt as he used his magic to teleport out of Skypolis and go about his work. He needed to make sure that the Mario babies wound up either in Skypolis or with their new parents, no matter the cost.

Meanwhile, on Yoshi's Island, Kamek was overseeing the final stages of the construction of a castle that was being built for his charge: Bowser, Prince of the Koopas. Morton was sending the toddler to Yoshi's Island so he could have some time off and play while Kamek watched over him. Kamek had at first been perturbed at the prospect of Prince Bowser coming to Yoshi's Island, but upon finding the babies that would bring ruin to the Koopa Kingdom, he decided that this would be perfect. They would be the perfect playmates for Bowser, and with a friend in Bowser, it would be easier to indoctrinate them into the Koopa Kingdom.

As he was watching some Toadies put the finishing touches on the castle, he nodded with satisfaction. Everything was going perfectly. All he had to do now was check on the babies. He soon put down the white sack holding what he thought were two children and opened it. When he did so, he saw only one child, the one with a green cap on his head. How was this possible? The other child had eluded his grasp.

"Toadies!" he called.

The rest of his Toadies immediately stopped whatever they were doing and assembled before the Magikoopa. "One of the children that was being carried by the stork is missing. He's almost certainly somewhere on Yoshi's Island. Half of you go and search for the missing child. The rest of you, go and make sure to put our captives in the dungeon and make sure that they can't escape."

"Yes, sir," the Toadies answered. They then went to work performing the tasks given to them by Kamek. As for the Magikoopa, he quickly mounted his broomstick and went to assist in the search for Mario. He had a feeling that the Yoshi dinosaurs on the island would find and help the baby. However, the Magikoopa had contacts of his own on the island. With any luck, it would not be long before news of the capture of the other Mario sibling reached his ears.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Luca and Mia slept for most of the train ride to Toad Town. Toadsworth and the other Toads huddled closely on the train, the group managing to find seats close to each other, and watched as Luca winced in pain as he shot awake after shifting his weight in the large seat. He gave a quiet grunt, which also served to awaken Mia. She turned and saw him holding his abdomen.

"Are you alright honey?" she asked, concerned since she knew that he had suffered from broken ribs in the accident.

"I'll be fine," Luca managed to grunt. "All that matters is finding our children.

Toadsworth noticed the exchange between the humans and went over to check on them. "Is everything okay?" he asked, knowing that there was something wrong.

"We're fine," Luca answered, saying nothing of his injury.

"Luca has some bruised ribs," Mia answered for her husband, letting Toadsworth know that he was injured, but not the true extent of his injury.

"Well, we don't have much on the train, but over in town, we have a clinic that uses special mushrooms called Ultra Shrooms," Toadsworth offered.

"What are Ultra Shrooms?" Luca asked as he shifted his position.

"They are a special type of mushroom that will heal you when you eat it."

"Will they heal bruised or broken bones?" Mia asked.

"They surely will," Toadsworth answered.

Luca gave a strained smile as he attempted to relax. The rest of the train ride was free of any incident. Luca tried to go back to sleep but could not find a comfortable position with his broken ribs. With the adrenaline surge wearing off, he was beginning to feel the discomfort of his injuries from the accident, which he knew was no accident. Meanwhile, Mia looked out the window as the train made its way to Toad Town. She looked out over the fields and saw the cheerful fields and would have smiled if the fates of her children and the injuries to her husband were not hanging over her. It seemed to her as if this Mushroom Kingdom was a nice place to live. After a moment of thought, though, she put all of those feelings out of her mind. She only had one purpose here: the rescue of her children, and she would save them no matter the cost.

After about one more hour, the train was within sight of the Toad Town Station. Mia quickly saw this and lightly touched her husband, who had gone back to sleep, on his arm to gently alert him that they were arriving. He stirred awake and looked at her, smiling, saying, "Thank you for waking me up gently."

"You're welcome," Mia answered with an almost mischievous grin.

As the approached the station, the engineer spoke over the loudspeaker, alerting everyone, "Now arriving at Toad Town Station. All passengers make sure to take all belongings with you as you disembark."

The train began to slow down and after a few moments it came to a complete stop, a hiss sounding as the train came to its stop. As soon as the train stopped, the doors opened and the passengers rose from their seats and headed to the nearest exits. That was Luca and Mia's cue to rise as well. The humans then followed Toadsworth off the train, watching their step as they disembarked.

As soon as they disembarked, Toadsworth took them aside and told them, "Remain here for a second while I go see to my squad."

The humans did as he bade and watched as Toadsworth went over to the other Toads and Toad guards of his squad. Luca went over towards a bench so he could rest, his cracked ribs still bothering him, while Mia tried to hear what Toadsworth was telling his subordinates without being obvious about it. However, such as task was harder than she anticipated, for their voices were quiet. All she could make out was them murmuring about the castle and about how a king, a Toad named Lactarius, was concerned at the number of Bandits that were appearing inside of Dry Dry Desert. From what she could hear, it appeared as if the Bandits were not native to the Mushroom Kingdom.

As she was listening to Toadsworth, her gaze began to wander. She saw several buildings in the distance and several dirt roads that led to them. Despite the roads looking to be made of dirt, the town appeared to be relatively advanced, not on the order of a town in twenty-seventh century Earth, but advanced enough, for she could see lampposts which meant that the town had electricity. She did not see any motor vehicles besides the train, though, and there were not all that many Toads in the town. If she had to guess, she would have guessed that Toad Town had only a few hundred residents at most, not counting however many residents lived in the castle. It was a quaint town and one that seemed to be very peaceful.

After a few more moments, Toadsworth finished speaking with his subordinates and dismissed them. They immediately rushed off to a dirt road that led north. He then went over to the humans and said, "Sorry it took so long. My subordinates are more courageous than many other Toads but they don't have the best memories, so I had to go over with them what they would report to the king while I got you guys over to a doctor. It's not too far away. Follow me."

Mia nodded and then looked over at her husband, who awkwardly rose from the bench and followed after them. Toadsworth noticed his trouble and commented, "That looks like more than bruised ribs."

"That's because they're full on cracked or shattered ribs," Luca answered. "We didn't want you to know the full extent of my injuries because we did not know for certain if you and the other Toads were friend or foe."

"That's understandable," Toadsworth answered nonchalantly.

The humans followed Toadsworth as he took the same road that the Toads had used. As they followed the road, Toadsworth pointed out all of the famous landmarks and areas around the town. He pointed to his right and told them about the Li'l Oink farm and how one can hatch Li'l Oinks by hitting their eggs with strong tools like hammers. In addition, he told them about how after ten Li'l Oinks are hatched inside the pen, upon the arrival of the eleventh, the first Li'l Oink will flee the pen and drop an item. He told them that the gold and silver Li'l Oinks would drop Ultra Shrooms and Jammin' Jellies when they fled the pen. However, their rarity meant that it was unlikely for them to appear and it would cost a lot of coins for a person to get an Ultra Shroom or Jammin' Jelly.

Next, Toadsworth pointed out the tree that led to a secret area called the Playroom. Toadsworth then described the games that could be played and the membership cards required to be able to play those games. Luca and Mia feigned interest in the sights of Toad Town, nodding as Toadsworth spoke, but they were eager to just get some healing items and get to work searching for their children. As they continued, with Toadsworth explaining more and more about the history of Toad Town, the Mushroom Kingdom, and the world at large, Mia eventually interrupted him, saying, "Mister Toadsworth, sir, I know you are trying to be hospitable to us and at any other time we would be greatly interested in the sights of Toad Town and its history, but our children are missing and every second we spend not searching for them, the enemy that took them gets farther and farther out of our reach."

Toadsworth immediately stopped, looking to be taken aback but his expression quickly softened. "Sorry, I just got a little carried away. I don't have any children of my own but some of my friends do, and I know that they would be worried sick if any of them were kidnapped. Come," he told them, motioning for them to follow him. "The clinic is not far."

The duo followed Toadsworth as he turned left and followed the next road. Several Toads were mulling about with several of them whispering as Luca and Mia walked by but none of them seemed to be too disturbed by the presence of the humans. After a few more minutes, the group arrived at a large blue building that had an emblem that had a Mushroom-like emblem on top of it.

"We're here," Toadsworth said, pointing to the building. "This is Doctor Toadley's clinic. He's the only practicing doctor in Toad Town. We have several other doctors up at the castle but he's the closest and he has some fine healing items. Assuming you haven't suffered too much internal damage, an Ultra Shroom or two should be enough to have you be good as new."

"Thank you," Luca said as he and Mia followed Toadsworth into the building.

As they entered, they saw that they were in a relatively plain room with a wooden counter against the wall about fifteen feet away or so and a door that led deeper into the building behind the counter and to the right. Sitting behind the counter was a female Toad with a white mushroom cap with pink polka dots. She was wearing a white lab coat and had a stethoscope. When she saw Toadsworth and the humans enter, she immediately put on her best bedside manner and said, "Welcome to Toadley's Clinic. How may I help you today?"

"My husband has cracked ribs," Mia answered quickly. "Toadsworth says you have an item that can heal him."

"Does he have any illnesses or other conditions or is he only suffering from physical damage?" the nurse asked.

"Just physical damage," Luca grunted in answer.

"Then I'll start with an Ultra Shroom and see how you handle it. Is that okay?" the nurse asked.

"Yeah," Luca answered.

The nurse then went through the door behind the counter and a few seconds later, she came out with a large mushroom with a green cap with white spots on it. "Eat this," the nurse directed Luca.

Luca looked at the mushroom and raised his eyebrows quizzically. "This mushroom will heal me?"

"It sure will," the nurse answered. "If you aren't too badly hurt, you'll be fully replenished health wise. It won't cure fatigue but it'll make any injury go away."

Luca then took the mushroom and ate it. It took a few minutes, for it was the size of a turkey. The moment he began to eat the Ultra Shroom, though, he immediately felt his ribs knitting and all of his other scratches and injuries go away. This sensation continued until he was finished. Once he was finished the mushroom, he felt better than he had in ages. All of the little aches from hard days of work had gone away. Any small scars and pains from his work were also gone.

"How do you feel?" the nurse asked.

"I haven't felt better in a long time," Luca answered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"So, you're all healed?" Mia asked, coming over to her husband.

"I sure am," Luca answered exuberantly. "I haven't felt this good in a very long time."

Toadsworth then came over to the humans and told them, "Well if you're all feeling better, you can come with me to the castle. I had the others go on ahead to inform King Lactarius of your arrival. He'll give you all a great welcome."

Despite the kind offer, though, Mia and Luca did not want to be sitting around in a luxurious castle while their children were still missing. They wanted to get to work searching for their children as soon as possible. As such, Mia answered, "With all due respect, mister Toadsworth, we cannot go to the castle right now. We need to begin the search for our missing children. We've lost enough time as is. Maybe another time, after we find our children?" the woman offered kindly.

"One of the reasons I wanted to take you to the castle is because there are resources there that can help you in your search," Toadsworth answered. "The only other place you could begin is in the Toad Town Library but without knowing much about our kingdom, you wouldn't know where to look. We can offer you all of the knowledge you will need give your search the greatest chance of success."

"He does have a point Mia," Luca suggested to his wife, reconsidering Toadsworth's offer.

"Yes he does," Mia agreed. She then turned to the Toad and said, "On second thought, we graciously accept your offer."

Toadsworth smiled and told them, "Follow me. The castle isn't too far away."

The duo quickly followed Toadsworth out of the clinic and back the way they came from the train station. When they reached the road that would take them to the train station, though, they turned left and headed farther north. Along the route, they came across several shops and houses, one of them, a house with stars and a spinning roof, belonging to a famous magician known as Merlon. "Merlon is a famous who comes from an ancient tribe," Toadsworth explained. He also has family members that can tell you where to find items, or are even fortunetellers that can tell you where to go on quests. He, himself, is a fortuneteller that has helped a number of people going on quests."

The humans listened closely to the description of Merlon and his family, feeling he and his family members could help them find their children. They were sure to make note of the location of the house in case they would need to call upon Merlon's assistance in the future.

As they were walking towards Merlon's house, they saw a gate with a star in the distance. "The path that leads to the castle is through that gate," Toadsworth told them.

The group then approached the gate and it opened to them as soon as they were about ten feet away. The gate split down the middle and opened away from them. The group walked on through and once they were through the gate closed behind them. As Luca and Mia glanced around, they saw that there were no guards or police at the gate, which surprised them but they decided not to say anything just yet.

The group continued to follow the trail through the lush, green hills that led to the castle. The scenery was beautiful, though the humans did not pay much attention to it. Toadsworth, on the other hand, was walking slowly, glancing around the hills. This caused Luca and Mia to grow concerned.

"Toadsworth, is something wrong?" Luca asked, noticing Toadsworth looking around as he slowed his pace.

Toadsworth almost jumped at the sound of Luca's voice and looked back at them. Mia was now growing concerned. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, yes," Toadsworth answered sheepishly, blushing. "Everything's fine. I was just admiring the scenery. This area is beautiful. It's one of the reasons why the king often comes to this castle."

"This isn't the king's primary castle?" Luca asked.

"The king has many castles," Toadsworth answered. "That's one of the benefits of being the king. Still, he tends to stay at this castle more than the others. He likes the scenery and he's close to Toad Town."

The group continued to walk along the path until it opened up to a castle in a clearing. The castle had gray walls and a red pointed roof at the top of the main tower as well as on the roofs of the main wings as well. There was also a moat filled with water that was fed by waterfall to the west side of the castle. The sound of crashing water could even be heard in the distance.

"We're here," Toadsworth told them. He then motioned towards the castle and smiled. The humans looked at the castle and noted that it bore a faint resemblance to old castles from Europe. However, the lack of sections on the top towers and battlements indicated that this castle had more advanced forms of protection. After a few moments, Toadsworth asked, "So, what do you think?"

"It's fine," the couple answered plainly. They had not given much consideration to the castle, being too concerned over the plight of their children. "Look Mr. Toadsworth, we really aren't concerned much about the history or culture of Toad Town or the magnificence of the castle right now. All we're really concerned about is the safety of our children," Mia added as diplomatically as she could.

"I understand," Toadsworth said. "Well the resources in the castle will be as good a start as any for helping you find your children."

"Thank you," Luca said.

Toadsworth then led the way to the castle's front door. The door looked to be made of wood, much like the doors to human houses, but it was small, designed to accommodate Toads, rather than humans. Still, the door was large enough to fit a human, if barely. Toadsworth approached the door and gripped its knob. He then turned it and pulled the door open. Holding the door, he motioned for the humans to enter, saying, "After you."

"Thank you," Luca said graciously, stepping through. Mia quickly followed her husband. Toadsworth then brought up the rear, allowing the door to close behind him

The interior of the castle had a checkered patterned floor with a red carpet that led up a series of stairs to a mezzanine which led to a set of double doors. There was a small series of stairs that led to another door to the left, while there were other doors in the central area below the mezzanine level in the castle. One thing that the humans were quick to notice was the fact that the entire lower level seemed to be deserted, for the hall was completely devoid of activity. Toadsworth did not seem to be troubled, though.

"Where is everyone?" Luca and Mia asked Toadsworth.

"They're mostly in the party hall on the mezzanine," Toadsworth answered. "When I let King Lactarius know about your coming, he decided to throw you a royal welcome. Follow me. We have a party to go to!" the toad exclaimed joyously. He then bolted up the stairs to the mezzanine and went through a mechanical door on the left. Luca and Mia glanced at each other questioningly, hesitant to follow the Toad through the doors and annoyed at how they were having a party thrown for them for no discernable reason when all they wanted was to begin the search for their children in earnest. However, they still felt as if the best chance for finding their children was to get help from King Lactarius, so they decided to indulge the king and they followed Toadsworth to the mezzanine and through the doors.

When they emerged in the party hall, they were met with a long red carpet that extended through the whole hall, underneath a long table, all the way to a gold throne on the other side of the hall. There was also a large table in the center of the room along with several other stations that looked to be part of a buffet line. Sitting on the throne was a Toad with a white mushroom cap with red spots, sporting a red robe that fell to the floor and gold scepter. He was taller than any of the other Toads present in the room but did not match the height of either Luca or Mia.

The moment the humans entered the hall, the king rose from his throne and took one step forward. When he stood, everyone in the room knelt down on one knee and faced him. The king, however, raised his hand and commanded in a loud voice, "Rise. This is no time to be somber. This is a time for celebration, for we have guests from very far away. We must make them feel welcome!"

The Toads immediately rose and went about their business setting up the table and other buffet stations. A young female Toad who looked to be the equivalent to a human teenager in age with brown hair wearing a purple dress came over to the human couple and told them, "A place has been prepared for you at the table. Please follow me."

The humans did as they were directed and followed the teenaged Toad to their place at the table. They arrived near one of the ends of the table, quickly noticing that King Lactarius had already taken his place at the head of the table and that they were being seated right next to him, with Mia being seated right to his left. As Mia took her seat, she noticed King Lactarius eying her appraisingly, quickly nodding in approval. She was not oblivious to the king's openly desirous look and scowled, placed her left hand on the table, making sure that her wedding ring was clearly visible, making sure that everyone at the table knew that she was married, as if her traveling and sitting with Luca was not telling enough. Luca also noticed the king's appraising of his wife and scowled, though he hid his disapproval of the king's desire better than Mia, who had now clenched her hand into a fist. The king practically recoiled at Mia's reaction and snapped his fingers, summoning some more servers. The Toads, most of them young, attractive females, quickly arrived and asked, "What may we do for you?"

"Are the meals ready?"

"Yes, sire," the Toads answered.

"Excellent!" the Toad exclaimed. "C'mon everyone, let's feast!" He then looked over at the human couple and said, "The staff at this castle makes the best feast you'll ever partake in and there's always plenty for all."

The humans nodded and said, "Thank you, sire."

True to Lactarius's word, the feast was magnificent. There was a wide assortment of meats that they had never seen before, fish, fruits, vegetables, and edible fungi. There were also all kinds of drink, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Luca and Mia ate only a modest meal of a fish that they thought tasted like tuna along with some diet soda. King Lactarius, however, completely partook in the meal, having a little bit of everything. He also had a significant quantity of wine, though he did not seem to be drunk at first glance. However, he must have been inebriated since he started ogle Mia even more than he had before. He stared at the woman and gave an audible sigh. He then looked over at Luca, who was looking on disapprovingly.

"So, you and your wife are from Earth, right?" Lactarius asked.

"Yes," Luca and Mia answered in unison.

"And what do you do on Earth?"

"What do you mean?" Luca asked.

"What's your occupation?"

"I'm a plumber," Luca answered. "I work for Mario Plumbing. We're a small company but we work on many projects. We've even worked a few jobs for our government."

"And your plumbing work is cleaning out pipes, working on septic systems, and even working in sewer systems, correct?"

Luca nodded.

The king then turned to Mia and grinned. "And what do you do?"

"I'm a wife and a mother," Mia answered directly, making sure that her wedding ring was visible.

"What were you before you were married and had children?" Lactarius asked, not able to take his eyes off of Mia.

"I was a marine biologist," the woman answered. "That is the study of undersea life, with my particular field being underwater oceanic life. I still study in my free time, what little I have."

"What do you mean by little?"

"Raising a child takes a lot of time and energy," Mia answered. "And I've got a second child to raise as well. Raising Mario has definitely kept me in shape."

"I can most definitely attest to that," Lactarius managed to say evenly. "Anyway, I'm surprised that you were never a supermodel or a performer of some sort. I definitely think you would be a great singer and dancer. You definitely have the looks for it."

"I played trumpet in a jazz band and did dance in high school, but I'm a terrible singer and don't like singing all that much either," Mia answered. "Anyway, I'm not much of a performer right now."

"A pity," the king commented. "You'd be a great performer and we've got a show tonight." The king then went over to the head of the table and proclaimed, "Well, everyone, this has been a wonderful meal. For those of you still eating, you guys don't have to stop. For those waiting for the next phase of the party, it's here!"

Just as he had made that proclamation, one of the walls at the far end of the hall rose and revealed a curtain. The curtain was soon pulled back and a drum set was revealed flanked by several young looking Toads. There was also a microphone stand in front of the drums. Standing at the stand was a beautiful female Toad whose mushroom cap had purple spots. She was dressed in a purple sleeveless dress that matched the color of her cap's spots perfectly. She had brown curly hair and green eyes. She was what Luca and Mia considered to be average height for a Toad. She was flanked by a band that consisted of a bass player, a trumpet player, a saxophone player, a keyboarder, and the drummer sitting at the drums. All of the instrument players were male.

"Let's give a warm welcome to Viole T. and the Steamy Shrooms."

The audience immediately broke out in cheers as the band stepped forward. After a few seconds, the audience became silent and all of the lights went out save for the spotlights that lit up the stage. The group then began its performance. The first song was a steamy romance song, which caused King Lactarius to glance over at Mia, who suppressed a groan as her mind focused on trying to think about where her children were being taken. She thought that all of this pomp and ceremony was nothing more than a waste of time and she would be angry if it led to nothing. Looking over at her husband, she could tell that Luca was thinking the same. As they were trying to sit through the performance, some of the Toad nobles came over and asked Mia for a dance. She refused, though, whispering to her husband about their plan for finding Mario and Luigi. A few others tried to draw her into dances too, unsuccessfully. The band proceeded to perform several jazz songs, a song that Mia recognized as being similar to rock and roll in style, with the singer and the audience dancing, snapping, and clapping, all except for Mia and Luca, who were beginning to grow even more annoyed with what they saw as a waste of time. They did not care about elaborate meals, parties, and performances: all they wanted was to find their children.

Just as they were about to get up and walk out, figuring that they would be better off searching for their children on their own, the performance came to an end. As the performance came to an end, the audience erupted in cheers and applause. The band then retreated a few steps and the curtain closed in front of them. Luca and Mia joined in to show courtesy but they had not paid much attention to the performance. They could not shake the feeling that this was nothing more than a waste of time: possibly a purposeful waste of time. Once the audience had stopped clapping, the court retired and the nobles began to depart. As the nobles were departing, the staff began to clean up the hall.

As the staff was getting to work, Lactarius came over to the humans, flanked by Toadsworth and a Toad guard dressed in golden armor. They suspected that the Toad guard was the Captain of the Guard. Lactarius seemed to be in a jovial mood, but Toadsworth was a little more serious in his expression.

"Well, what did you think of the evening?" the king asked the humans.

"It was not bad," Luca answered diplomatically.

"However, we must get to trying to find our children," Mia finished, not so diplomatically.

"Ah yes, your children," Lactarius began. "I've already put the word out for our people to be looking for two human babies between the ages of less than one to three years of age. Were they twins?"

"No," Mia answered. "Mario is one year older than Luigi, to the day. They have brown hair and light blue eyes. Mario was wearing a red cap with an M at the time of his kidnapping with Luigi wearing a green cap with an L."

"Okay," Lactarius answered. He then turned to the Toad in golden armor and said, Might T., go and update the APB on the children. Also, coordinate with the search parties. We've got several parties over several islands out in the ocean. Get their reports as soon as possible."

"Yes, my liege," Might T. answered as he bowed and then turned to depart and carry out his task.

Lactarius then turned to Toadsworth and said, "I've opened the library to our guests. That's the best place to start with the search."

"Yes, sire," Toadsworth answered. He then turned to Luca and Mia and motioned for them to follow him, saying, "This way."

They did as they were directed and followed Toadsworth to the library. They followed the Toad out of the party hall and down to the main hall. They walked down the steps and made their way over to a smaller set of stairs that led to a brown door. The Toad went to the door and grabbed its knob. Twisting it, he then pulled it open and told the human couple, "After you."

"Thank you, Toadsworth," Mia answered as she stepped into the library, followed closely by her husband.

At first, the interior of the castle's library was dark, indicating that they were its only occupants. The sounds of the party in the hall outside were still sounding but the humans paid them no heed. They had only one thing on their mind: beginning the search for their children. Toadsworth followed the couple in, taking out a flashlight and switching it on. A beam of light emerged from the bulb in the light and he shined it throughout the library. He swept the walls near the entrance with the light until he found the light switch. Going over to it, he flicked it up and the library was immediately illuminated.

The humans had to close their eyes, the sudden illumination by bright lights almost blinded them. They opened them up a bit later and quickly acclimated to the light. Looking out into the library, they found that the walls were lined with bookcases filled with books as far as the eye could see. There were numerous aisles formed by the lines of bookcases. Despite being inside the castle, it looked larger than several libraries that the humans had visited in the past.

The first order of business was to try to find out more about the world they were on. They would need to know the basic geography of the world if they were to have any hope whatsoever of finding their children. "Toadsworth, do you know where any atlases or maps are located?" Mia asked, glancing back at the Toad what would have sounded like a normal tone of voice anywhere else. However, with the acoustics in the library, her voice echoed through the library and despite it being unoccupied, she quickly lowered her voice to barely more than a whisper.

"Certainly," came Toadsworth's quiet answer, which was still clearly audible. "The maps and atlases are located in the rear of the library. Simply go down the center aisle until you come to the map section." He pointed down the centermost line of bookcases. "The section is labeled on the cases above so it shouldn't be hard to miss."

"Thank you," Mia said in little more than a whisper as she rushed down the aisle, followed closely by her husband.

The two looked up at the labels as they were making their way down the aisles, wanting to make sure that they did not miss anything. As they looked at the signs above the cases, they noticed that they were all in English. They did not know if that was due to any possible magic on this world or if the inhabitants simply spoke and wrote in English using English letters, and they did not care. They could ponder that mystery later. All they wanted to do now was to learn about this world so they would have a better chance of finding their children.

Eventually, they found the section that they were looking for and they immediately scanned the bookcases for any maps that could be of use to them. Luca pulled out the first book that he saw, a book labeled _The Atlas of the World_. He opened it and found its writing to be in a strange language. Apparently, not all books were written in English after all. Mia then pulled out another atlas and opened it. This one was written in English, but it only had some maps and landmarks of the Mushroom Kingdom, itself. Looking at the map, she did not find anything about the ocean, or any large waterway for that matter. It was soon clear that she would not find anything in that book and she put it back. They checked out several more books but these were just as unhelpful as the last, either written in unknown languages or only focusing on landmarks in the Mushroom Kingdom or on a land called Hyrule, which seemed to be a landlocked country. There was also mention of a Koopa Kingdom that appeared to be in a country in a volcanic region. There were even some books about Earth, as strange as it seemed to the humans, but there was nothing about the world of Hylia at large.

As they were scanning the section for other books and maps, Toadsworth came down the aisle to them and managed to find them delving into two more books. The books soon closed in frustration once again.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Toadsworth asked in a helpful tone.

"Actually, yes, there is," Luca answered.

"How may I be of help, then?"

"I've noticed that there are a lot of books that seem to have a great deal of information on the Mushroom Kingdom and/or the so-called Mushroom World, as well as a country called Hyrule, and a Koopa Kingdom," Mia began. "However, I haven't seen any books that have any information on the world at large. It all seems to focus on the Mushroom Kingdom, Hyrule, and the Koopa Kingdom. Is there anything here that focuses on the world at large?"

"Probably not in the castle library since King Lactarius seems to focus all of his attention on the Mushroom Kingdom and the larger countries, but there is a library in Toad Town run by Russ T. His library has a more eclectic selection of material, including some of the best maps in the world. Perhaps you could look there. It's not far away from the castle's entrance."

"Will the library still be open?" Luca asked. "It's getting late."

"Russ T.'s Library is open twenty-four hours a day," Toadsworth answered. "Besides, he stays there until at least ten o'clock, and it's only eight o'clock right now. Still, I would recommend you visit Merlon first."

"Merlon is that magician you mentioned earlier, right?" Mia asked.

Toadsworth nodded. "He's a magician that can prognosticate the future. He may be even more helpful than Russ T. or the castle library since he may even be able to tell you where your missing children are."

"Will we have time to visit both?" Luca asked.

"Certainly," the Toad answered. "While Merlon does charge for his services, the price isn't steep so I can, and will, cover the charge for the two of you. Also, his reading will only take a few minutes. We'll have plenty of time to visit Merlon and then Rust T. Follow me," Toadsworth finished, motioning for them to follow him. The humans did as they were instructed and they followed Toadsworth out of the library. Just before leaving, Toadsworth flicked the light switch off and the library went dark once more. The group made their way through the partiers as they went over to the door that led to the stairwell that took them to the castle's first floor.

Once they emerged on the first floor, the trio quickly made their way over to the castle's exit. As they walked, they thought they saw the shadow of a figure pacing in a corner near the entrances to one of the castle's wings. They noticed a Toad guard making his way over to the shadow and quickly followed Toadsworth to the exit as discretely as possible. Once they exited the castle, they made their way towards Toad Town, Toadsworth noticing that there was only one guard stationed outside.

Meanwhile, King Lactarius was partying with his guests, not having noticed Toadsworth guide Luca and Mia out of the castle. He smiled at the many beautiful young Toad women as they flashed smiles at him as well. He hoped to get to know them better as the night went on. Soon, another song began playing and several female Toads rose from their tables and began to dance on the stage, some of them even singing along with the performers. That prompted the rest of the guests to dance as well. Lactarius was about to join in when a guard came running through the door to see him. Lactarius saw the guard charge in and he frowned.

"What is it?" he asked, dreading that word of some attack or crisis would come and ruin his evening.

"Sire, an elf from Skypolis is waiting for you downstairs," the Toad guard answered. "He says that he has to speak with you about an urgent matter."

This piqued the Toad king's interest. "An elf from Skypolis?" Lactarius inquired.

The guard nodded.

"Did he give a name?"

"He said his name was Sweylin," the guard answered.

Lactarius's eyes went wide. "One of King Exion's personal guard," he muttered. "Where is he?"

"He's downstairs, waiting near the main entrance."

"Did he say what he wanted to speak to me about?"

"Only that it was an urgent matter."

"I'll be right there," Lactarius stated. "Make sure that the guests don't notice my absence while I'm down there."

"Understood, sire," the guard said, bowing.

Lactarius then ducked through the door to the stairwell and made his way down to the main hall on the first floor. The moment he opened the door, he saw the elf standing on the sun symbol on the floor all alone. Neither any Toad guards nor any companions for the elf were present, assuming the elf had any companions. Walking down the steps, he went over to the elf. Before Lactarius could welcome the new guest, though, Sweylin spoke. "Forgive me for my unexpected and unannounced arrival, but an incident has occurred that requires all of our attention."

"May I ask what that is?" the king asked.

Sweylin then stared Lactarius in the eye. "Two human children were kidnapped by the Koopas."

"I know," Lactarius stated. "My guards and Toadsworth informed me. Their parents are searching for the children."

"Then I don't have to tell you about their parents," the elf said in a dark tone.

The Toad king shook his head. "I know about them, though I would like to get to know the mother a little better."

"That would not be advisable. In fact, it would be very bad if the parents were to find their children."

"Why is that?" the Toad asked curiously.

"Because the parents would take the babies back to Earth," Sweylin replied.

"Why would that be a bad thing?" Lactarius asked, confounded by the prospect of the elf saying that a pair of children being with their parents away from the Koopas would be a bad thing.

"Because those babies are the key to the survival of the Mushroom Kingdom. And not only its survival, but its revitalization," Sweylin answered. He then took a deep breath and explained further. "Those babies are Chosen Heroes, the older of them possibly being the most important of the Chosen Heroes. Back on Earth, a force of evil known as the Elvanheim is looking for them. The Elvanheim have dreadful powers, even by the standards of the gods and Star Sprites. If they were to find the babies, it would be to the detriment of all. Their parents taking the back to Earth would most certainly be the equivalent of handing them over to the Elvanheim. That cannot be allowed. They must be raised here on Hylia, preferably within either the Mushroom Kingdom or Skypolis. Do you understand?"

Lactarius nodded.

"Come with me, King of the Mushroom Kingdom. There is much that needs to be done, and not a lot of time to do it. Even with the babies being brought here, there is still a chance that the Elvanheim could have tracked them here. We must make sure that if they did, that they won't be able to do anything about it."

"What must we do?" Lactarius asked.

"First, we have to seal the Warp Zone. That will prevent the Elvanheim from being able to come to this world, as well as keep the parents from escaping if they take the babies, or any other forces from taking them off world. To do that, we will need the castle's Power Stars. After that, we must find the Koopas, for they are the ones currently in possession of the babies. Once that is finished, you have to find a suitable home for the children. I won't have them raised without parents of any kind."

"And what about the children's parents?"

"We'll deal with them when the time comes. But remember, above all, they must not regain their children. If you want the Mushroom Kingdom to survive, the babies must be trained and raised either by us, or by Toads loyal to you."

"I understand, Sweylin," Lactarius answered with a bow.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Luca and Mia followed Toadsworth out of the castle and walked down the path that led to Toad Town. The group could see the lights from Toad Town all the way up the path. They wondered if there was some sort of festival or other celebration that could hamper their meeting with Merlon. As if sensing their question, Toadsworth calmed them, explaining, "Toad Town is constantly lit up at night. We have found that having a lot of lights cuts down on crime. We don't have much violent crime but we often have Shy Guy visitors and some bullies from the neighboring Goomba Village so we have taken to lighting the streets."

"What about Merlon?" Luca asked. "Does he get a lot of customers at night?"

"No more than at any other time of day," Toadsworth shrugged in answer. "Not many Toads in Toad Town really need their fortunes read. It's performed more as a magic act for children rather than seriously, though they do say that Merlon is the real deal."

The humans were put a little more at ease by Toadsworth's answer and continued down the path until they approached the gates. Once the trio approached the gates, Luca and Mia scanned the area to see if there were any guards, surprisingly finding no guards protecting the gate or standing on the hill keeping watch.

"Where are all the guards?" Mia asked.

"Likely at the party," Toadsworth answered nonchalantly.

"Aren't you worried about security breaches and undesirables managing to make their way onto the castle grounds?" Luca asked, not understanding how security could be so lax.

"I don't handle security," Toadsworth answered, raising his arms in a shrug. "That's done by Sicuri T. And even then, the king will often override Sicuri T.'s suggestions since he has voiced the same concerns that you just did on more than one occasion."

The group did not speak any more of it as they approached the gate. Toadsworth then jogged a few steps ahead and reached the gate. When he arrived at the gate, he placed both hands on the gate, one to either side of the small crack down the middle. He then pushed with all his might and the gate opened for the group. He then stepped aside to let Luca and Mia through. Once the humans were through, Toadsworth followed them, the gate promptly closing behind them once the Toad was through.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Lactarius paced around the hall as he was listening to the intricacies of Sweylin's plan. He still had some misgivings about keeping the children away from their parents, but it could be mitigated if they were able to keep the parents from managing to find their children. His musings were quickly interrupted by Sweylin audibly clearing his throat. "Do you understand what is happening?" the elf asked.

Lactarius nodded. "In fact, sir, I think I may have a plan."

"What plan is that?" Sweylin asked skeptically. He knew that Lactarius was not known for his brilliance or mental aptitude.

"The children's parents are in this castle right this very moment. They're in the library attempting to begin the search for their babies as we speak. I could go up there and tell them that we have a lead. I could lead them to Gusty Gulch. The only path that leads to that area is through the Forever Forest. They would likely get lost there and would not be able to find their children."

Sweylin considered Lactarius's plan. He did not know that the Toad king could be so devious, or come up with even a semi-intelligent plan. Still, he did not have any other ideas save for watching the humans and trying to nudge them in the wrong direction. The king's plan could not only grant them the chance of getting the humans away from the babies while he and the king did what they needed to and also saved the kids from the Koopas, but it also gave Lactarius deniability if the humans somehow managed to escape the Forever Forest. Sweylin grinned. "Okay, we'll do it your way."

"I'll go get them," Lactarius stated. "You go and close off the Warp Zone. We don't need any enemy forces coming into the kingdom."

The Mushroom King then retreated back up the stairs and through the door to go to the library to give the humans the false lead. As for Sweylin, he gave a slight sigh and turned to make his way out of the castle. He did not know whether or not Lactarius would keep up his end of the bargain but it did not really matter. If the portal that led to Earth was destroyed, then there would be no way that the humans could leave, and no way for the Elvanheim to come to Hylia without being detected and intercepted by the Hylian gods. Right now, though, he had to get to the Warp Zone and collapse the portal that led back to Earth so that nothing could enter the Mushroom Kingdom, or escape it. As long as it remained, there was still a chance that something could come through.

As for Lactarius, he made his way back to the main hall. As he entered, he saw the partiers still celebrating and the guests talking with each other and enjoying the meal and entertainment. He discreetly ducked over towards the library so he could inform Luca and Mia of his lead. Once he was there, he proceeded to make his way inside.

As soon as he entered the library, he saw that the library was dark, which piqued his curiosity for a few seconds before a much more troubling thought came to his mind. "Hello," he called out, his voice echoing through the library. "Luca? Mia? Are you here?"

There was no response. He went over to a light switch and flicked it on. The entire library instantly became illuminated. However, he could find no sign of the humans, or Toadsworth. "Luca, Mia, are you here? I've got a lead on the location of your children," he called out into the library.

Again, there was no response. The king started to get worried now. They should have still been in the library. There was a great deal of information about the world that they would have found useful. His mind started to race. Could they have found a lead on the children all on their own? If that was, indeed, the case, then he had to stop them from acquiring the babies, no matter the cost. The fate of the Mushroom Kingdom depended on it.

He quickly turned off the lights and exited the library. Once he was back in the main hall, he went over to one of the Toad Guards standing by the door and asked him, "Have you seen Luca and Mia?"

"Who?" the Toad Guard asked, not having any clue as to whom the king was referring to.

"The two humans that came with Toadsworth to the party!" Lactarius shouted.

The guard shook his head. "All I know is that I saw two humans with Toadsworth. They didn't say where they were going, though."

The king suppressed a groan. He soon spotted three more Toad Guards and said, "You four are with me."

The Toad Guards bowed and fell in line with Lactarius. "What is the mission, sire?" the guards asked.

"We have to track down the two humans I just mentioned," came Lactarius's answer. "They are searching for two children that hold the fate of the Mushroom Kingdom in their hands. Whatever the cost, we must be the ones to find and raise the children."

"What happened?" one of the guards asked. "Did they kidnap the kids?"

Lactarius nodded. "The children's birth parents are dead, too. We've gotta find these children now."

The guards nodded and followed Lactarius as he led them downstairs and eventually out of the castle. Once they were outside, they followed what they figured would be the most likely trail of the humans throughout the town. However, they knew that their search would be difficult considering the fact that they did not know where the humans were headed, if they had a lead, or were still searching for one.

Meanwhile, Luca and Mia entered Toad Town and walked down the street towards the blue house with the spinning roof, followed quickly by Toadsworth. As they approached the house, Luca looked back at the Toad and asked, "You said that the house with the spinning roof was Merlon's, correct?"

Toadsworth nodded. "He should be inside right now unless there have been any problems in the town."

The humans gave no reaction as they made their way towards the house. However, Toadsworth quickly ran up to them and called, "Wait!"

"What is it?" Luca asked, perturbed that they were being delayed.

"Merlon's fortunetelling isn't free. It'll cost you at least five coins to get a reading." Toadsworth then approached and gave each of the humans five yellow coins. "That should cover the cost for the reading. I'll be out here if you need me or if the price has gone up."

"Thank you, Toadsworth," Luca answered with a courteous bow. Mia mirrored her husband's bow and with that, the two of them went into the house. The door closed shut behind them and Toadsworth went to lean against a billboard located just outside of the house.

The door to Merlon's house swung open and the two humans stepped inside with seeming trepidation. Looking over the layout of the small house, all they saw was a small wooden table with a crystal ball with a star on it standing in the center of the room. They looked up and saw what looked to be a small skylight but only some faint moonlight shown down from the ceiling. Standing at the other side of the table was a figure shorter than the humans dressed in a long purple robe that concealed his features save for his long lime green mustache and red shoes. The robe had a noticeable clasp that was in the form of a green jewel-like ball with a large yellow star on it. They could see small dots inside the robe that looked to be the figure's eyes. The figure stared at them but did not recoil in surprise. If anything, it seemed as if he had been awaiting their arrival.

"Ah, so you have finally come," he said casually.

"You were expecting us?" Mia asked, stepping forward.

The figure nodded.

"I take it you're Merlon," Luca stated.

"That I am," the figure answered.

"Do you know why we have come?" Mia asked.

Merlon nodded again. "You seek your children, who were taken by an elf, a Dark Elf if I'm not mistaken."

"I don't know if he's a Dark Elf, but you're spot on about an elf taking our children," Luca responded.

"He likely is," Merlon answered. "The Dark Elves were servants of the Elvanheim, known on this world as Magic Lords, but they rebelled shortly before the Elvanheim were defeated and took refuge on this world. But that is not important right now, save for the fact that this particular dark elf is not acting on the wishes of his leader or people."

"So he's a rogue agent," Mia concluded.

"I would guess so," Merlon agreed.

"Can we expect help from his people?" Luca asked.

Merlon gazed into the crystal ball for a second before answering, "Doubtful. They're on another continent that is far away and they don't know about this Dark Elf's actions, assuming he even _is_ a Dark Elf and not an enemy agent."

"We're getting off point," Mia stated flatly to all present. She then focused on Merlon and continued, "Sorry for being a jerk, but I have a feeling that we are on a tight schedule if we wish to rescue our children."

"You are correct, young lady," Merlon answered.

"So, do you know where our children can be found?" Luca asked.

"For that, I will have to do a full fortunetelling," Merlon explained. "Normally, I would charge for such a service, but considering the circumstances, I'll just say that it's on the house."

"Thank you," the humans said.

Merlon then went back to his crystal ball and said, "Anyway, here we go."

The skylight over the roof was quickly covered and the room went dark. Merlon then gazed deeply into the crystal ball and the ball began to glow. Soon, star-shaped patterns of light were emitted from the ball and shown across the room along the wall as if it were a disco ball. The patterns of light began to spin around the room as Merlon held out his hands. He then placed his hands on the ball and closed his eyes. The light show continued and the two humans gazed around the room, watching the show. After a few seconds, the light began to subside and the room returned to normal. They turned back to Merlon and looked at him questioningly.

"Anything?" Mia asked.

Merlon nodded. "Yes, a vision did come to me." He then gave a pause before continuing, "Your children are clearly on an island, likely close to where you saw them initially. However, I could not get a clear identification of the island. I did, however, see that one of your children is in the care of what seems to be a dinosaur."

Luca's eyes went wide. "A dinosaur?"

Merlon nodded. "Dinosaurs are uncommon on this world."

"They're extinct on Earth," Mia chimed in.

"Well, the dinosaurs here are likely descended from the ones on Earth but are noticeably different in appearance," Merlon explained. "One species of dinosaur is known as Yoshi. Anyway, they are primarily found on two islands. I don't know much more, but I do know of someone who might know."

"Who?" the humans asked in unison.

"Russ T.," Merlon answered. "He's the librarian in charge of the Toad Town library. He also has a great wealth of knowledge on the world. If anyone could identify the island your children are on, he could."

"Were there any landmarks or points of interest on the island where our children were located?" Mia asked.

"And which child was with the dinosaurs and what happened to our other child?" Luca added.

"Your other child is in a castle on the island surrounded by servants of what appears to be a Koopa of some sort."

"Koopa?" Mia asked.

"The Koopas are a race of turtle-like beings that are part of a kingdom called the Koopa Kingdom. The Koopa Kingdom is currently ruled by a Koopa named Morton," Merlon answered. "There is currently a state of unease between the Koopa Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom. Russ T. would be able to tell you more about them if it becomes necessary."

"Anything else about the island?" Mia asked.

"The island is a tropical island that has a tall mountain range as well as a volcano," Merlon answered. "Other than that, though, there is nothing special about the island that I can think of. Russ T. would know more about it than I would. You should talk to him."

Luca and Mia glanced at each other and nodded in agreement with the wizard. "We will," Luca stated. They then looked back at Merlon and added, "And thank you for your help. You have been invaluable in our quest."

"You're welcome," Merlon answered, bowing. "I just wish I could have done more."

"You've done more than enough already," Mia answered, giving him a kind smile.

The group then exited Merlon's house and were met by Toadsworth, who was leaning against the billboard. When the door opened, he quickly got up and headed over towards the door, stopping a few feet away. When he saw the humans emerge with hopeful expressions, he asked, "So, how did it go? Did Merlon find your children?"

"Not exactly," Luca began. "However, he did indicate that they were on an island to the south of the Mushroom Kingdom. He gave some details of the island but said that Russ T. would be of more use in helping us to identify the island. We're planning on heading over to his library right now, assuming he's still in."

"He is," Toadsworth answered with a knowing nod. "He practically lives at his library. Follow me. I'll take you to the library."

Without saying anything further, the humans followed Toadsworth as he led them through Toad Town. Since it was near nightfall, the town was not very active. There were several houses lining the streets. One of the town's points of interest was a martial arts dojo run by a martial arts master that was said to be one of the best fighters in the world, surpassing even the skills of the King of the Koopas Morton. As the trio made their way past the dojo, they could hear the sounds of training as the voices of the martial artists were heard as they punched either the punching bags or sparred with each other. The swishes of evaded attacks were also heard, indicating that several intense matchups were going on. Normally, this would have greatly interested the humans since they were both martial artists, but right now, they were focused on only one thing: the rescue of their children. However, they felt as if they would likely have to visit the dojo one day after they had rescued their children.

As they walked past the dojo, Toadsworth pointed to a building in the distance. "That's Russ T.'s library," he signaled.

The two humans focused their gazes on the building. They saw several lights in the windows, indicating that the building was lit, unlike most of the houses and other buildings on this block. "I'll wait out here for you if you need me," Toadsworth told them.

The humans had no problem with Toadsworth staying outside while they went in to talk to Russ T. While they were ready for any potential trouble, they felt as if they could trust Toadsworth. They proceeded to make their way up the small path to the door of the library. When they arrived, they stopped and politely knocked on the door a few times.

"It's open," they heard a voice answer from inside the building.

The humans then grabbed the doorknob and turned. When they heard a click, they pushed the door open and stepped inside. Once they were inside, they stopped and took a look around. The whole floor was lined with aisles of bookcases and books. Despite the floor not looking to be as large as the library in the castle, the humans got the impression that this library had a much more impressive selection of material than the one in the castle.

As they looked around, they saw a Toad standing on a ladder in one of the aisles, placing a book back on the shelf. The Toad had a blue dotted mushroom cap and was wearing a light blue vest. He also wore small eyeglasses. As they entered and the door closed behind them, the Toad looked at them from the ladder and called to them, "Hello. We don't often get visitors at this time of night. May I help you?"

"Do you know where we may find Russ T.?" Mia asked.

"Sure, he's me," the Toad answered.

"Then yes, you can help us," Mia answered.

Russ T. then climbed down the ladder and walked over to them. "How may I be of assistance?" the Toad asked courteously.

"Our children were kidnapped and we are searching for them," Luca began. "We're from Earth and we have little knowledge of the Mushroom Kingdom, much less this world. During our search, we came across a wizard named Merlon, who said he saw our children on a tropical island. He gave us a description of the island but did not have its name. He then referred us to you."

"I see," Russ T. said thoughtfully. He then went over to a small table and took out a notepad and pen. "What was the description of the island?"

"The island was said to have a mountain range and a volcano," came the answer. "It was also said to be inhabited by a group of dinosaurs called Yoshis."

"Yoshis, huh," Russ T. muttered thoughtfully. He then looked up at the humans and told them, "Well that narrows it down quite a bit." He then directed them over to a map of what looked to be the world of Hylia. Once they arrived, he continued, "Well, Yoshis are generally found in any number on only two islands right now. One island is their home island called Yoshi's Island. Another is called Lavalava Island. They are both tropical and have volcanoes, but Lavalava Island doesn't have a mountain range, just a beach. Yoshis are known to live on both. In fact, it has been said that humans once lived on Lavalava Island. Given Merlon's description, I would say that chances are that your children are located on Yoshi's Island but I can't be certain of that. Is there anything else you can tell me about where you last saw your children?"

"We last saw them being taken over a large island," Mia answered. "We were standing on a smaller island after having emerged from a green pipe."

"I see," Russ T. answered, putting his fingers to his chin. "Then I'm almost certain it's Yoshi's Island. Yoshi's Island doesn't have a Warp Zone exit the way Lavalava Island does, but the Warp Zone does have an exit on an island that is close to Yoshi's Island. Given everything you've told me, I would bet my entire life savings and this library that your children are on Yoshi's Island."

"Thank you," Mia said, her relief evident. "How far away is Yoshi's Island and how do we get to it?"

"You can get to it by boat," Russ T. answered. He then went over to a drawer near the larger map and opened it. He pulled out a rolled up piece of paper not much larger than a page from a notebook. He then unrolled it and gave it to the humans. "This is a map of the world and labels all of its countries. You'll find Yoshi's Island to be located to the south of the Mushroom Kingdom."

The duo glanced at the map, which surprisingly looked to be written in English, and quickly found Yoshi's Island labeled on the map, seemingly not too far away from Lavalava Island. He then told them, "There is a ship that is docked in the Toad Town harbor. It tours the ocean and Yoshi's Island is usually its first stop. However, it will cost money to get a ticket in order to board the ship. The ticket is not expensive, though."

"Again, thank you," the humans said. Mia then stepped forward and asked, "Is there anyplace we can go to exchange our Earth paper money for coins?"

Russ T. did not immediately answer the woman. He cast his gaze downward in a thoughtful fashion and eventually answered, "Not to my knowledge, no. Humans, while not unheard of even in the Mushroom Kingdom, are very rare. My only knowledge of humans is that there is a village of them just outside of a kingdom called Hyrule, which is on another continent. And the currency there is a jewel called a Rupee."

"Do you know how we can get some coins?"

"The quickest and easiest way is to sell an item of yours. However, there are also blocks that have coins that you can destroy to get the money. I know of one particular block near the docks. They say that smugglers and thieves use such blocks to hide treasure that they're smuggling into the town. There are, of course, also enemies that you may face that will drop coins if you defeat them, particularly Bandits. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"We should be fine," Luca answered. "Again, thank you."

"Don't mention it," Russ T. answered. "It's the least I could do. And besides, it's nice to know that all the knowledge that I have obtained can be helpful. Oh, and one more thing about Yoshi's Island. There have been reports that the Koopas have a presence on the island. It seems as if Merlon has confirmed what many already suspect. Be careful of the Koopas. They are powerful and dangerous, particularly their elites such as the Magikoopa Kamek and their king, Morton."

After thanking Russ T. once more, Luca put the map into his pocket and then turned and exited the library, followed closely by his wife. When they got outside, Toadsworth came up to greet them. He saw that their expressions were lighter and full of hope as well as determination, indicating that Russ T. had been of help. To confirm what he suspected, he asked them, "Were you successful?"

Luca and Mia smiled and answered, "Yes. Our destination is Yoshi's Island. Russ T. warned us about the Koopas having a presence on the island, though. What do you know about them?"

"The Koopas are ruled by a king called Morton. He has one son named Bowser, who is a toddler at the moment. He, Bowser that is, is a spoiled brat and is in the care of the Magikoopa Kamek, who is extremely dangerous." Toadsworth shivered as he mentioned the name Kamek. "As for Morton, Morton is extremely powerful but he does not often fight, leaving his underlings to do the fighting for him. Relations between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Kingdom are uneasy at the moment."

The humans looked at each other and Luca said, "We'll deal with the Koopas when and if the time comes. First thing's first; we need to get to the harbor and find some coins."

"I may be able to help you with that," Toadsworth said. "There is a bar at the docks called Club 64 that is looking for help. You could work there for a night and get a decent paycheck."

"Thank you but we really need to get to Yoshi's Island as quickly as possible," Luca quickly replied.

"The next ship doesn't come in until the morning, so you'd have to wait anyway," Toadsworth answered. "This way, you can get the money needed to pay for the ticket, as well as being able to buy some other items that may be necessary on your trip."

Luca and Mia glanced at each other and quickly realized that Toadsworth's suggestion made a lot of sense and their expressions softened. After a moment, Toadsworth offered, "Come, I'll take you down to the docks."

Toadsworth then proceeded to backtrack through the town and make his way down to the docks. Mia and Luca quickly followed suit and ran after him until they caught up, when they slowed down their pace to that of the Toad's.

As they traveled through the town to reach the docks, Toadsworth took the time to point out other points of interest in the town. One point of interest was the Toad Town Bank not too far away from an item shop. It was a plain looking building with a large image of a coin on its front, with the words _Toad Town Bank_ sculpted over the entrance. As they approached the bank, the sounds of a commotion could be heard. Flashes erupted from the windows of the building and several loud bangs accompanied the flashes of light, along with a scream. At first, the humans thought that the sounds were gunshots, but soon, they saw the door open and a Bandit run out of the bank carrying a large sack in his right hand and looked around. As the Bandit exited the bank, he soon heard several voices shout, "Outside! The thief's outside!"

The Bandit took that to mean that it was time to leave. Seeing that the pathway to his right would have only led to the harbor, and a dead end which would lead to his capture or worse, he charged forward towards the humans. The humans, however, stood firm and as he tried to charge past them, Luca raised his arm and curled his hands into fists. With a single swing, he connected with his fist to the Bandit's head, knocking him backwards, causing him to drop the sack. He hit the ground with a thud and ceased moving, though his chest rose and fell rhythmically, indicating that he was still alive. Looking at the sack next to the Bandit, they saw several gold coins leak from the open end of the sack.

Not too far away, several guards and the bank's manager, an older looking plump Toad, emerged from the bank and rushed over to both Mia and the fallen Bandit. They quickly grabbed the Bandit, hoisted him up and placed him in handcuffs and chains on his feet. Mia and Luca quickly went over to the sack and scooped up the coins that had fallen out of the sack and put them back in. When the manager came over to examine the scene, Luca went over to him and asked, "Are you the bank's manager?"

The older looking Toad answered, "Yes. Were you the one who stopped the Bandit?"

Luca nodded. "My wife helped, too," he added, casting a glance at his wife standing behind him. He then handed the sack over to the Toad. The Toad graciously accepted the sack.

"Words cannot convey my gratitude," the Toad began. "This money was a deposit in order to build a gaming club. We thank you for stopping this thief from making off with the money." He then took out a jewel and handed it to Luca, whose eyes went wide at the size of the jewel, for it looked to be a perfect diamond that was the size of a soccer ball. "Take this as thanks for your assistance," the bank manager said.

Luca gazed at the jewel and said, "This is probably worth more than the money that was stolen. I can't accept this."

"Take it," the manager insisted. "I can tell that you are on a quest. Perhaps this can help you on said quest. You can sell it at the item shop over there." The bank manager pointed to a building with a symbol that resembled an orange flower with a green stem and leaves.

"Thank you," Luca said as he accepted the jewel and headed to the shop not too far away along with his wife.

As they were headed towards the shop, Toadsworth went up to them and said, "Good job on stopping that Bandit. Anyway, I have to get back to the castle. The king will notice my absence soon. To get to the harbor, just follow this road to its end and don't take any forks. It'll be easy to find."

"Thank you Toadsworth," Mia said, bowing. "You have been a great help to us. When this is over, if there is anything you need from us, tell us. We'll help out in any way we can."

"Thank you, but I should be fine as long as I get back in time."

Mia did nothing to keep him from leaving. She just nodded and smiled. Toadsworth nodded back and then departed, turning around and following the road back to the castle. After he had departed, the Marios made their way to the shop.

The two arrived at the shop and immediately headed inside. The interior of the shop looked quite plain, for there was a ledge that contained samples of the merchandise available for sale. At the other end of the long ledge was a Toad with green spots on his cap. He had pencil behind his right ear and a clipboard underneath his left arm. When the humans entered the shop, he quickly looked up from checking his inventory and gazed at them and almost stepped back, surprised at the presence of humans inside of Toad Town, especially one that looked to be as attractive as Mia.

"Humans?" he said, almost in shock. After a second, though, he regained his composure and began making his sales pitch. "I mean, welcome to Harry's Shop," he began nervously. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, there is," Luca answered. He then took out the jewel that the bank manager had given to him. Harry's eyes lit up at the sight of the jewel "First off, I was looking to sell this jewel. How much is it worth?"

"Let me take a look at it," Harry T. answered coming up to examine the jewel. He looked over the jewel and after ten seconds, he answered, "This jewel is worth at least three hundred coins. How'd you find it?"

"The bank manager gave it to us for helping stop a Bandit," came the answer.

"Wish a Bandit would try to steal from the bank so I could stop him and get a ton of money," Harry T. muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Mia asked.

Harry T. froze at Mia's question, wondering how the human could have heard his muttering. He then got back to business, though, and said, "I was just calculating the true worth of the diamond. It comes to 320 coins."

Luca then handed the diamond to Harry T. and Harry went over to the cash register at the end of the table and withdrew three hundred coins, putting them in a sack so that Luca and Mia could carry them. "I have these in pretty large denominations so that they'll be easier to carry. Is that alright?"

Luca and Mia nodded. Harry then handed them the sack of money and Luca took it. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" the shopkeeper inquired.

The humans nodded. "We are interested in buying some items for an adventure," Mia answered.

"Well, we've got a full inventory of some pretty useful adventuring items. The Thunder Rage will be of great use against a large number of enemies, and the Super Shroom will help heal you from any injury. In addition, we've got the Dizzy Dial to help make enemies dizzy so they won't attack, as well as a Stone Cap to turn you into stone and make you invulnerable, but also immobile. In addition, I'll give you two sacks to carry your items. You'll be able to carry ten items per sack."

Luca and Mia then headed on over to the merchandise so that they could read more about the items being offered. Luca noted the Tasty Tonic and that it could cure status conditions such as poisoning and shrinking. Neither of the humans knew what could cause them to shrink, but the cure for poisoning would be useful especially since they were headed to a tropical area. The two conferred with each other before deciding on which items to take on their quest. Eventually, they decided to take five Thunder Rages, five Super Shrooms, two Dizzy Dials, and two Tasty Tonics. When they had decided on their adventuring gear, they went up to Harry T and told him the items that they wanted. Harry T.'s eyes lit up at the large number of items that they wanted. In addition, since many of them were relatively expensive, he would be making back a lot of the money he had given them for the diamond that they had sold to him. He then got out the two sacks that they would use and asked, "Do you mind how I place the items in each sack?"

The humans shook their heads and he just decided to place them in as he got out each item. Once he had placed the items in the sacks, he took them over to the humans and gave them the bill. The total came to two hundred and forty coins for the entire haul, leaving them with eighty coins for the ticket to go to Yoshi's Island. Once they had paid for the items, Harry handed over the sacks and went back to the cash register, whistling joyfully at the profit his store had made from the humans. As for Luca and Mia, after receiving their items, they thanked Harry T. and departed the store.

When they departed the store, they turned to their right and continued to head west through the town. As they made their way through town, they caught the attention of several Toads as the Toads watched them walk through town carrying the sacks, which were the size of small duffel bags. The humans paid the Toads no heed as they continued through the town, hoping to reach the harbor before the boat departed.

Eventually, the humans made it to the harbor and they saw that the boat was still at the dock. As they entered the harbor, they quickly spotted the Club 64 that they had heard about earlier. They could hear the sounds of celebration and music coming from the bar. They ignored the bar as they made their way towards the docks. As they made their way over to the docks, they looked to their left and spotted the ship that would pass by Yoshi's Island on its cruise. The ship was a large white ship that was reminiscent of Earth seafaring cruise vessels.

They soon found the boarding ramp to the ship and saw two Toads with red mushroom caps standing guard outside. There was a small line to get onboard the ship. There were a series of wooden crates on the dock not too far away from the ship but they were of no consequence to the humans. Luca saw the small line and hoped that he and Mia were not too late to board the ship. They quickly made their way over to the line behind a Toad family that had two young children. Looking at the children reminded Mia of her own children, despite the fact that these children were likely at least four or five years old.

The line went smoothly and it was not long before it was Luca and Mia's turn to board. When they approached, one of the Toads came up to them and bellowed, "Tickets?"

"We have none," Luca answered. "Our trip was spur of the moment and we were looking for where to buy tickets."

"It's almost time for us to depart," the Toad answered. "However, we do have some spares. The tickets are twenty coins each."

Luca and Mia breathed a sigh of relief as they handed over the necessary forty coins for their boarding passes. Once they received the passes, they handed them back to the Toad and the Toad said, "Welcome onboard the _S.S. Seasprite_. We hope you enjoy your cruise." The Toad then handed Mia a small piece of paper that had their room assignments, along with a key.

"We intend to," Mia answered. "Thank you."

The humans then walked up the ramp and boarded the ship. As they were boarding, one of the Toads gazed at Mia and gave a soft whistle. "Wow, human women are getting more and more beautiful."

"Yeah, but this one is married," his comrade answered.

Onboard the ship, the humans searched for their rooms. Their room was Room 204, so they went over to the stairs that took them to the second floor. There, they walked down the corridor, searching for their room, which they found fairly quickly.

When they arrived at their room, Mia took out the key and inserted it into the lock. Turning it, she heard a click. She then grabbed the doorknob, twisted, and pushed it open. Then, she and her husband entered the room.

When they entered the room, they stopped and gazed around it. The room was more like a suite than a simple room. There was a separate bedroom along with a small kitchen for cooking. There was a living room with a sofa and what looked like a big-screen television. What they took to be the remote was on the arm of the sofa. They gazed at the room approvingly. Normally, they would have been thrilled with such a room, but they did not care how the room was furnished or looked. They would have taken a seat in the hold if that was all that was available for them. All they wanted was to get to Yoshi's Island as quickly as possible.

Soon, they heard a voice come in over a loudspeaker on the ceiling. "All aboard! This is your captain speaking. We're about to depart the harbor. Our first stop will be Yoshi's Island, which we will arrive at around six A.M. Until then, you may partake in any of our amenities, including a party in the main hall."

Luca and Mia ignored the voice over the speaker and immediately went over to the bedroom, where they found a king sized bed with a luxurious white quilt on it. They put down their bags and immediately went over to the bed so they could sleep until they reached Yoshi's Island. While they did not like having to wait the eight or so hours for arrival at the island, they knew that they needed sleep so that they would be at full strength for when they continued the search for their children, and there was nothing they could do on the ship, or in Toad Town.

As the boat was pulling out of the dock, several Toad Guards were rushing to the harbor, followed by King Lactarius. They had asked around the whole of Toad Town and had learned of two humans that were making their way over to the docks. As they arrived, they frantically went about the harbor, asking, "Have you seen two humans?"

Most of the Toads merely shook their heads, or simply nodded but said that they did not know where the humans were headed. Eventually, they reached the dock and they came across two Toads and Lactarius asked, "Have you seen two humans here? One of them, a woman, had blond hair while…"

"Yeah, I did," one of the Toads answered.

"Where did they go?"

The Toad pointed at the departing cruise ship and said, "On there."

The king looked dejected as he watched the ship depart. There was no way that he would be able to reach the ship now. It would take too long for him to call in a ship and without knowing what ships had been docked and which ship it was that had left, it would take a while for him to find the ship. He then turned and told the guards, "I'm heading back to the castle. You identify the ship that departed as quickly as possible. Those humans kidnapped the children that they were looking for. We can't let them reacquire the children."

"Yes, my liege," one of the guards said for the rest of them.

King Lactarius then nodded and turned around to head back to the castle so he could be present for the conclusion of the feast. In addition, he would have to get several of his servants and agents out into Toad Town in order to track any potential locations where the humans may have visited so that he could ascertain their destination.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Onboard the ship, Luca and Mia slept through the entire night as the rest of the ship partook in the festivities granted by the cruise ship. Couples sat by the swimming pool, looking up at the full moon that cast its light upon the sea. Other passengers enjoyed fine dining in the numerous onboard restaurants and dining halls. The only ones who were not enjoying themselves through festivities were the two humans. They simply slept through the night until dawn, when the ship was close to Yoshi's Island.

At around six o'clock in the morning, the pair woke up, looking out over the ocean as the sun began to rise. They spotted several small rocky islands dotting the seascape very similar to the islands they found near the Warp Zone. Almost as soon as they had awakened and put on a fresh set of clothes, they heard a voice over the loudspeaker proclaim, "Attention passengers of the _S.S. Seasprite_. To our right are the Ring Islands. They are a series of barrier islands that surround the tropical paradise that is Yoshi's Island. We will be coming up on Yoshi's Island within a half hour, so any of you who wishes to disembark for the festivities on the island, prepare to do so now. We will spend the day here before departing at six P.M. to head back to the Mushroom Kingdom and will return in one week. Other ships in the Toad Cruise Lines will arrive daily to pick up anyone who wishes to leave sooner and tour more of the sea resort islands, particularly Lavalava Island."

That was their cue to prepare themselves for disembarkation. They both got dressed, Luca in his usual plumber's attire, a brown short-sleeved shirt and jeans, while Mia put on a pink sleeveless shirt and white shorts. She knew that the mobility offered by the shorts would help if they were forced into a confrontation of any sort. Luca went over to the sacks and he checked to make sure that they had everything they needed. Seeing that they had all of the necessary provisions for battle, he quickly realized that they needed some food in case this trip took longer than anticipated.

Luca told Mia that he would handle the situation and left. "Make sure to get some trail mix and something to drink, too. We don't want to be caught without any food or water if this takes longer than expected," Mia called after him.

"Got it," he answered from down the hall.

Luca made his way through the corridors of the ship, searching for any vending machines and hoping that they had some food as well as drinks. So far, the corridors were bare; not even security officers were around. Sur enough, it was not long before he came across one such machine. This machine looked like a large box. Its inventory included trail mix bars, bottles of water, and even some protein bars. When searching for prices for its wares, he found that the machine did not take coins, but merely required the presentation of the boarding pass. There was a scanner and a red light on the right side of the machine. He got out his boarding pass and swiped it over a scanner. As soon as he did so, a chime sounded and the light turned green. He then made his selections. Judging by the amount of space he had in his backpack, and that Mia would have in hers, he got ten trail mix bars, and four bottles of water, not wanting to weigh down his backpack during the journey. After getting his wares and placing them inside a bag, he returned to his quarters.

Once he got back to his quarters, he saw his wife standing near the entrance, with her sack slung over her shoulder and her backpack already packed and ready. He smiled as he saw her standing there. "Looks like you're ready," he noted.

Mia gave a smile and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Just let me pack our provisions and we'll be ready to disembark once the ships docks."

He did so, making sure to split the provisions evenly. "The water I got is for emergencies only. Despite every bit of traveling advice saying for us to not drink foreign water, I think we should risk it since we don't intend to be here for long."

"We may not have a choice if the water is either infected or if it turns out we need to fight," Mia answered.

"That's why I got four bottles," Luca answered, smiling.

Once they were fully packed, Luca took one last look inside the bedroom to make sure that they did not forget anything. He found that the bed was perfectly made and that the drawers were completely empty. As soon as he rejoined his wife in the main living area of their quarters, the voice rang out over the loudspeaker again. "Attention passengers, we are about to dock at Yoshi's Island. Anyone who wishes to disembark should do so now. Make sure you take your boarding passes with you if you do not intend to spend a full week on the island as they will be required to board any other ship of the Toad Cruise Lines."

The humans made no comment as they departed their room and made their way down the corridor. They were surprised to see that the corridor was sparsely populated. This time, there were only a few security personnel patrolling the corridors. They consisted of Toads that seemed to have flashlights built into their mushroom caps. The humans did not dwell on it as they continued towards the main deck.

Once they arrived on the main deck, they went over to the boarding ramp and saw that there was no line to leave the ship. In fact, it seemed as if they were the only ones that were planning on disembarking on Yoshi's Island. This could be both bad and good, as they would not be drawing any attention to themselves. However, it would also lessen the chances of their children being found of they were wandering the island. The dark prospect of their children not being on the island was also at the back of their minds as they looked at the island coming closer and closer. It looked to be smaller than they had originally thought. There were a number of tall mountains in the distance as well, some of which looked as if they were higher than some of the lower clouds. One thing was certain, though, looking out over the ocean and seeing the smaller islands, as well as this one, they knew that this is the island that the stork had carried their babies over. If by some miracle the stork was intercepted, chances were that the interceptors came from this island. If that was the case, then their children may still be on the island.

When they arrived at the ramp they were greeted by two Toads. The Toad standing on the left of the ramp looked at them and suppressed a whistle. The other one looked at them and asked, "Are you disembarking for the cruise?"

"We are," Luca answered, his answer echoed by his wife's nod.

"You should know that while Yoshi's Island is a known tourist attraction, that there have been some issues that you may not be aware of. Incidents have happened and the hotel affiliated with our cruise line is undergoing repairs. That's why it appears as if you're the only ones disembarking here."

"Is there anything we should know about Yoshi's Island?" Mia asked. "We're new to the cruise line and even the Mushroom Kingdom, itself."

"Well, Yoshi's Island is mainly inhabited by Yoshis, friendly dinosaurs that are extreme omnivores. They'll eat practically anything they can fit into their mouths and can even turn some food into eggs. However, they tend to prefer fruit to meat or other animals. They don't eat Toads or humans, well unless the Toads or humans do something to them that forces them to fight back," the Toad amended. "There are, however, other inhabitants that are not so friendly. They're found in the deeper parts of the jungle. They mainly consist of Shy Guys, Bandits, Ravens, Piranha Plants, and various sorts of Dayzees. Be careful of the Dayzees singing; it can put you to sleep just like that." The Toad gave a single finger snap to go along with the warning.

Once the Toad was finished, he handed them a flier about Yoshi's Island. "This will tell you more about the island and also provides a map," he explained. "Please, enjoy your trip."

"We hope to," Mia answered. She then put the flier in her shorts pocket and followed her husband down the boarding ramp.

As soon as the human couple stepped off of the ramp, they stopped and took a moment to study their surroundings. There was a trail leading into a forest a few meters away from the docks. There was also a sidewalk that bordered the harbor where the _S.S. Seasprite_ was moored. The jungle in front of them looked thick and they suspected that it extended for miles at the very least with no breaks. Mia then took the flier out of her pocket and opened it up revealing the map. Luca leaned over to her and studied the map with her husband. According to the map, the jungle extended several miles and on the other side was a village called Yoshi Village. The duo suspected that the village was inhabited by Yoshis. It would be as good a place as any to start the search. As such, they began their trek, walking the trail through the jungle, following their map as they made their way towards the village.

The first half of their trip through the jungle was made without incident. They quickly made their way down the trail. During the trip, Mia drawing her gun, ejecting its magazine to see how many bullets she had left in it. As it turned out, she had no bullets left in the magazine, with the only bullet left already having been chambered. She then drew out her second magazine from her pocket and placed it inside her gun. "This is my last magazine," she informed her husband. "How are you with your laser pistol?"

He drew out the weapon and checked on its charge. Half of the lights on the monitor were lit, which indicated that the pistol was at half charge, which would be more than sufficient for at least a couple extended firefights. "Mine is at half charge," he answered. "It should still be good if we get into any extended fights, though, assuming I keep it at the lower settings."

Mia then holstered her weapon and let Luca take point. While they still had the five Thunder Rages and two Dizzy Dials, they knew that it would be a waste to use the Thunder Rages against individual enemies or small groups of weak enemies if their own weapons still had enough power to stop whatever they faced.

As they continued on the trail, they peered out into the jungle on either side of the road. Inside the jungle, they saw several plants with green stems and large, red and white polka dotted heads. One glance at the plants caused their hair to stand on end and they knew that it would not be a good idea to get too close to those plants.

As the trail dragged on, it began to get narrower, with the jungle quickly beginning to encroach on the two travelers. They listened for any signs of their children but all they could hear was the chirping of birds and insects, along with the rustling of a few bushes in the deeper parts of the jungle. As they began to step near one of the plants off the beaten path, they immediately saw it sprout into one of the larger plants with bulbous polka dotted heads. The plant's head soon split open, revealing a mouth with two rows of large teeth. The humans immediately jumped back to the center of the trail as the plant lunged towards them, snapping its teeth trying to take a bite out of the humans. After they had recovered from the initial shock, they figured that the plant must have been one of the Piranha Plants that the Toad on the ship had mentioned.

"You okay Mia?" Luca asked as he recovered and drew his weapon but did not shoot the Piranha Plant, not wanting to waste ammunition.

"I'm fine," Mia answered.

"We'll have to be more careful in this jungle. I get the impression that there may be variants that can move."

That was a safe assumption to make and they both resolved to keep their eyes and ears open. They then darted away from the plant, Luca making sure that his laser pistol was at the ready, as they continued on their journey.

Sure enough, not too long after they started walking again, a Pirahna Plant sprouted from the ground right in front of them and went to lunge straight for Luca. Luca, however, was faster on the draw and managed to shoot the Piranha Plant squarely in the head, felling it with a single shot. The plant fell over and withered, leaving the path clear. As they continued walking, they saw the ground crack beneath their feet. The duo immediately retreated from the ground as a brown mole-like creature burst through, spraying dirt and rock in all directions. They Monty Mole quickly spotted the humans and charged towards them. Luca, not wanting to use up any more shots from his laser pistol, jumped into the air, avoiding the charge of the Monty Mole. The mole, seeing that its initial charge had been evaded, quickly skidded to a halt and turned around. The mole then began to charge again.

"Watch out!" Mia called to her husband as she drew her firearm.

Luca, however, was ready for the mole's second charge and waited for it to come at him. As soon as it was few feet away, Luca jumped a few feet into the air once more. Unfortunately for the mole, however, this time, the human came down right on top of the mole's head, crushing it to the point where it was flatter than a pancake. The humans then continued on the trail, leaving the dead plant and mole behind.

Not too far along, the humans encountered even more trouble. Two blue-robed, masked figures that looked identical to Bandits appeared, barring their way. They grinned at the sight of the humans, suspecting that they were carrying coins, which they were this time. Figuring that these figures were Bandits only with different robes, Luca quickly drew his laser pistol. The Bandits, however, did not have any weapons drawn and Mia told him, "Wait. We don't want to waste any ammunition."

"Got it," Luca answered as he put the pistol away and decided that they would have to deal with the Bandits the old fashioned way.

As for the Bandits, their grins only became wider as the humans holstered their weapons. "Man you two are gonna regret makin' that decision," the Bandit on the right mocked, with his comrade focusing on Mia, suspecting that she was the weaker and less capable of the two.

The Bandits then focused on each human, turned to each other, giving a wink and a nod, and charged. "Make sure you get all of them," the first Bandit called.

"Don't worry about that," the second Bandit answered.

Luca and Mia made no comment as the Bandits charged, obviously underestimating their intended victims. Once the Bandits reached the humans, they extended their hands out and were taken completely off guard when the humans backed up a few steps and assumed fighter's stances. The Bandit that went after Mia grinned as he continued to charge towards her. As he reached for her again, she deftly moved her arm and knocked away the Bandit's, leaving him open to an open palm strike to the head. The strike caused the Bandit to recoil and look at the human woman in surprise and shock. He had not expected her to put up this level of resistance. To make things even worse, his comrade had already been taken down by Luca as a single blow to the head had been enough to knock the other Bandit unconscious. The man was now going over to support his wife. The Bandit that had targeted Mia, seeing that the situation had just changed, quickly decided that discretion was the better part of valor and turned to run. He then retreated back into the forest, where he met an unfortunate fate as a Piranha Plant sprouted close to him and lunged at him, grabbing him.

"Help me!" the Bandit cried as the Piranha Plant bit down on the Bandit's head and pulled him into the air. Luca and Mia ignored the Bandit's pleas for help as they continued on the trail. The plant then opened its mouth to allow the Bandit to fall into it and then closed it again, chewing the Bandit, who ceased struggling after the plant had chewed a few times. Once the plant had finished its meal, it promptly went back to sleep.

As for Luca and Mia, the two continued to make their way along the trail, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of enemies. They were beginning to understand why no one else had disembarked when the ship had reached the island. The rest of the walk to the village, though, was free of any further incident.

After about a half hour of walking, the couple finally arrived at Yoshi Village. As they neared the village, they could hear the sounds of laughter, play, and bustle. Knowing that they were close to their destination, and hopefully either their children or a lead to go on, they raced forward to a wooden gate. When they arrived at the gate, they looked up and saw a sign that read, _Yoshi Village_. They figured that they were in the right place and immediately walked on through the gate.

When they entered the village, they stopped and looked around for a few moments. The first thing they saw were several small buildings that looked to have roofs made out of leaves. There were signs next to some of the buildings, indicating that they were likely places of business. All around the village were bipedal dinosaurs that looked to be about the size of humans or slightly larger that actually looked a little cute to the humans. They had heads with large snouts, arms, and hands with four digits. They stood upright but they had what looked to be saddles that took the form of small shells on their backs, indicating that they could be ridden. They also had scales on the backs of their head and neck. They each also wore a pair of noticeable solid-colored shoes. The color of the shoes depended on the color of the Yoshi that wore them. While the Yoshis all had different colors, their stomachs and the front parts of their necks were universally white.

As the humans were standing there, Mia took out her flier and opened it, trying to see if there was any additional information on the Yoshis. As they listened to the background conversations, all they heard was the word, "Yoshi." The voices of the Yoshis also sounded extremely young, even though they figured that at least some of the Yoshis had to be adults. As she read the flier, she saw a small section on Yoshi. As she had already known, they were dinosaurs native to this island. The primary language was called "the Yoshi language" which consisted solely of the word "Yoshi." She figured that it was probably how they got their name. She then closed the flier and grimaced.

"Is there a problem?" her husband asked.

"Possibly," Mia answered. She then paused before continuing, "The Yoshi language consists of only one word: 'Yoshi'. My guess is that various inflections and pronunciations are how they differentiate what each 'Yoshi' means. That could make communicating with them difficult."

Luca agreed. He kept his ears peeled on the off chance that one of the Yoshis might actually either speak or be able to speak other languages. Stranger things had happened. After all, the Toads seemed to speak perfect English. They made their way forward, stepping out into the town and the Yoshis in the town immediately froze upon catching sight of the humans. Luca and Mia were just as confused about what to do, for the dinosaurs appeared to be friendly but they did not want to risk making a mistake and starting a fight unless they were somehow involved in the disappearance of their children.

Eventually, Luca decided to break the silence and called out to the Yoshi's, saying, "My name is Luca and this is my wife Mia. Do you understand me?" He grimaced as he finished the statement, knowing that he could have worded what he meant to say better.

The Yoshis glanced at each other quizzically, canting their heads as they looked at each other, whispering to each other in their own language. "I guess that means no," Mia muttered.

"Actually, we understand you perfectly," one Yoshi, a green Yoshi stated in perfect English. That took Luca and Mia aback as their eyes went wide at the Yoshi not only understanding them, but also speaking in perfect English.

"You spoke English," Mia almost stammered in surprise. "I mean I'm glad, this will make things a lot easier, but still, I'm surprised."

"Don't be," the green Yoshi answered. "Many Yoshis can speak English. The Toads do, as do the few humans that exist in this world."

Luca and Mia did not bother asking how a world separate from Earth would have English as a main, possibly its primary, language. It would be a riddle that they would solve another day, if at all. Right now, all they knew was that they could ask the Yoshis about their children. "Yoshi," Luca began. "We came to this island because our children were kidnapped and the last sighting of them was of them on this island."

"Children?" the Yoshi asked.

"We have two infant children. Their names are Mario and Luigi…"

"Mario and Luigi?" the Yoshi asked as if he recognized the names.

"Yes," Mia answered enthusiastically. "Have you seen them?"

The Yoshi shrugged. "I don't know. All I remember was a baby with a red cap with an M on it, along with a baby with a green cap with an L on it."

"That's them!" Luca and Mia cried out in unison. "Those are our children! Where are they now?" Luca asked quickly. "Are they still here?"

The Yoshi shook his head. "No. The babies have left the island. The baby in the green cap had taken by a bunch of Koopas led by someone called Kamek. There was a map with the baby but I could not read it. We used a relay system to reunite the babies and eventually rescue the one with the green cap, as well as the stork, who flew away from the castle."

"Do you know where they're headed?" the humans asked in unison.

The Yoshi shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know. I didn't ask the stork where he was taking the babies. I and the others simply assumed that the stork was taking them back to their parents."

The humans slumped forward, defeated. "Well, did you see which direction they were headed?"

Yoshi nodded. "I think that the stork was headed towards the north. It was definitely carrying the children over the sea and away from the island."

"Then there may still be hope," Luca blurted. He took out the flier on Yoshi's Island as well as looking at a smaller map of the world on the flier, pointing out Yoshi's Island in comparison to the locations of other important kingdoms. There were several smaller island kingdoms just before the Mushroom Kingdom. Mia came over to him and looked at the map, seeing the various smaller kingdoms and she looked dejected.

"There's no way for us to know if our children are going to the Mushroom Kingdom or to one of those smaller kingdoms," she lamented.

"I know," Luca agreed. While neither of them wanted to surrender, they both knew that the chances of getting their children back were very slim.

It was then that the green Yoshi looked at the map and then back at them and asked, "How and why did you come here in the first place? The baby with the red cap literally fell out of the sky and onto my back."

"He what?" Luca blurted turning to the Yoshi in disbelief but also in hope.

"That's how it happened," Yoshi answered.

"Then we may have a lead after all," Mia stated confidently.

"What do you mean?" Luca asked. The Yoshi was also curious.

"Chances are that the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom would notice a stork," Mia began. "Since there aren't a lot of humans in the Mushroom Kingdom, or the greater Mushroom World, that means that the elves would have to either take the babies to a place that had humans, or risk them being detected. Anyway, the babies would obviously be sent to adoptive parents, assuming they aren't just going to be raised by the elves, themselves."

"What makes you think that they won't just be raised by the elves, themselves?" Luca asked.

"Because Kamek managed to get the babies, or at least Luigi, and Yoshi and his friends here were the ones that saved them, not the elves," came Mia's answer. "That means that the elves that kidnapped our children must have had a contingency plan if something happened to them. The first thing is, we need to get back to the ship before it leaves port and get back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Then we can go to an adoption agency and see if there are two human babies up for adoption."

"It's risky," Luca cautioned. "This is all just a hunch and if we're wrong, we'll be going in the wrong direction."

"I have a feeling that we won't be," Mia insisted. "If nothing else, humans are uncommon so two human babies will be visible."

"We still have those smaller kingdoms to the south of the Mushroom Kingdom to look over," Luca stated.

"They're part of the Mushroom World and I have a feeling that they're in close alliance with the Mushroom Kingdom," Mia stated. "It's our best shot so far unless the map was left at the castle where the babies were taken."

"There may have been a map there," Yoshi volunteered. "The castle isn't too far away, either. I could lead you to it right now. When does your ship depart?"

"At six o'clock in the evening," Luca answered.

"Then you should have plenty of time," Yoshi cheerfully exclaimed. "Follow me!"

With that, Yoshi rushed off into the dense jungle, followed closely by Luca and Mia. Luca kept his weapons and items on hand to make sure that he would not be caught unawares by any enemies that may strike at them from behind. However, as they were departing, what none of the travelers saw was a figure hiding in the dense jungle. The figure was wearing a red robe and had a propeller on its head. It also wore eyeglasses with swirls on it. It soon reached into its cloak and pulled out what looked to be a small magical crystal ball. As soon as he held it, the ball lit up and soon, the face of a Koopa appeared. The Koopa was female and it looked to be middle aged, the equivalent of thirty-five to forty Earth years old. "Kammy, this is Toady One-Five-Three reporting in," it began in a high-pitched and sleazy voice. "We've spotted two humans that are hanging out with the Yoshi that beat up Prince Bowser. The humans have enlisted the Yoshi's help in taking them to Prince Bowser's Castle. I just thought that you should be on alert."

"Thanks, Toady One-Five-Three," came a scratchy feminine voice that sounded like that of a stereotypical witch. "We'll finish packing up here and be on the lookout for these humans. Stay with them but remain out of sight. With Bowser having left for this floating Egg Island, we don't need to devote resources to this area anymore. We'll engage the humans as needed, but we will most definitely make the Yoshi pay for beating up Prince Bowser."

"Understood," the Toady answered as its crystal ball flickered for a moment before going out. He then put it back in his robe and closely followed the humans as they followed the Yoshi through the jungle.

However, the Toady's conversation with Kammy did not go unnoticed. Standing on a mountain far away from the castle, Sweylin was kneeling down on one knee, magically listening in on the conversation between the Toady and Kammy. He had cursed himself when he had arrived too late to be able to rescue the babies from Kamek but was more relieved when the Yoshis had done the job for him, rescuing both babies and allowing the stork to make the delivery to their new parents. Extending his magical sight, he saw that the stork was already making its way to the Mushroom Kingdom to deliver the babies. Soon, the babies would be safely out of the reach of the Koopas and the Magic Lords. All he had to do now was deal with the parents, something that would not be too difficult for him to do. After all, he was an elf, and he was the most powerful magician of his kind in a hundred years. Taking out the humans would be no problem.

Meanwhile, back at the castle just outside of Toad Town, King Lactarius was sitting in his personal chamber, going over all the reports of the ships that had been docked at Toad Town Harbor. The chamber consisted of a bed, sofa, television, as well as several work desks and tables, each of which was full of reports and briefings. He sighed as he read over the reports coming in from Toad Town Harbor. There had been dozens of ships, and at least three cruise liners that had docked and subsequently departed once the passengers had embarked. That was nothing out of the ordinary, though, so no one had taken any note of the humans that had boarded a ship heading somewhere away from Toad Town. He could only shake his head and slump in his chair.

"Darn it. I'll never find those humans," he moaned.

Just as he had spoken those words, he heard a knock at the door. "It's open," he called.

The door then opened and in came an attractive young female Toad with blond hair and green eyes carrying a stack of papers. "You wished for me to bring in more reports of strange occurrences in Toad Town and at the harbor?"

"Yes, thank you," Lactarius answered. "Set them down over there," he directed, pointing to a table that was only half full of reports."

The secretary placed the reports on the desk and once she had done so, she looked back at the king, noticing his sullen expression. "Forgive me sire, but is everything okay?"

The king gave a sigh. "It could be better," he admitted. "I've been looking for a couple of humans and some babies," he answered. "The babies were kidnapped and the humans adults asked about where they were. I later received more reports that potentially implicate them in the kidnappings of the babies. I was close to getting them so we could clear up the situation them but they took a ship out of Toad Town last night and are now far away from Toad Town and possibly the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Well, why don't you just put out an APB on the humans and babies and have the Toad Guard Response Line on call to receive any reports that come in," the secretary suggested. "We don't know if they are the kidnappers, so they may just be searching for the children to rescue them. If that is the case, no harm done and we can help them. If they are the kidnappers, then we can rescue the children and help get them back to their real parents."

King Lactarius was about to write off the statement with a scoff when something came to mind, causing him to reconsider the secretary's suggestion. After a moment, his eyes lit up and the wheels started turning in his head. The secretary's suggestion was not so bad after all. In fact, it was great. And even better was that if he only referred to the humans as persons of interest rather than identifying them as kidnappers, it would alleviate any suspicions the parents may have if they heard about the APB.

"Miss T., put out an APB on the humans and the babies. Have it be that the humans are persons of interest in the kidnappings of the babies, but that they are not known to be the kidnappers at this time. We can update it when we get more information."

"Yes, sir," Miss T. answered. "I'll get right on it."

As the secretary departed, Lactarius could only smile. Things were looking up and it would only be a matter of time before the babies were retrieved and they could be raised to be the saviors of the Mushroom Kingdom.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

The green Yoshi led Luca and Mia through the jungle. Several Piranha Plants had leapt out at the group to try to devour them, only to be eaten in turn by the green Yoshi. Things were about to get more dangerous, though, as the group quickly came across a gathering of Dayzees. The Yoshi stopped in his tracks and held up his arms, telling the humans to stop. He then backed towards them, whispering, "Take a few steps back, we've come across a gathering of Dayzees."

The humans looked ahead and saw what looked to be small anthropomorphic pansies. They had white faces with four purple petals circling their faces along with green bodies. They also had green arms and purple feet. They were clearly shorter than the humans and looked to be edible by the Yoshi. However, thinking back to the Toad's warning, they decided to take it slow. They did not want to be put to sleep by a Dayzee song and then get eaten by a Piranha Plant or accosted by any other less than friendly denizens of the island.

"Those are Crazee Dayzees," the Yoshi informed the humans. "Those are the least dangerous of the Dayzee species, with the most dangerous being the Amazy Dayzee, whose song doesn't just put you to sleep, it really hurts you, too. Be glad none of those things are present here."

The humans nodded in agreement. The last thing they wanted was to get into a protracted engagement with any enemy forces. The trio waited for several minutes until the Dayzees dispersed and went their separate ways, their songs echoing through the jungle. Despite hearing their songs, the trio was not getting drowsy.

"Their songs only affect you if you're at close range or if they're singing right at you," Yoshi explained. "If they don't take an interest in us, we should be fine."

The humans figured as much as they continued following the Yoshi. Almost a half hour of trekking through the jungle went by with no sign of the castle anywhere. They had encountered a few solitary Crazee Dayzees that had attempted to put them to sleep with their songs, only for the Yoshi to devour them. When the Yoshi had devoured them, he quickly encased them in eggs and laid them, the eggs bouncing along behind the dinosaur.

"That's a neat trick," Luca commented.

"All of our kind can do that," the Yoshi answered. "We can also launch these eggs at other enemies, using them as projectile attacks. It was very useful in our fight to free your green capped son and the stork from Kamek."

The humans made no comment as they continued following the Yoshi through the jungle. After fifteen more minutes of trudging, and with no sign of the castle in sight, Mia was beginning to grow annoyed. "I though you said that this castle was not too far away." The woman did nothing to hide her displeasure

"It's not," the Yoshi answered, being taken aback by Mia's tone. "It's right over the ridge."

The Yoshi pointed at a hill not too far away. Mia rushed towards the hill, her husband following closely, and soon crested it. Once she stood at the top, she looked down into the valley. There, she found the castle that the Yoshi had mentioned. It was a fairly large castle, which seemed to be several stories tall. It had massive battlements and a large central tower. There was a light coming from the central tower. Looking out over the other towers of the castle, the humans spotted several other signs of light and life, too.

"That's funny," the Yoshi muttered, puzzled by the sighting. "I remember seeing Kamek leave with that Bowser kid."

"Bowser?" Luca inquired.

"He's the prince of the Koopas. Kamek, the Koopa who took the green-capped child, is his caretaker. Bowser's stronger than Kamek, though, as he pretty much owned Kamek when Kamek woke him up."

The humans were not concerned about Bowser. While Bowser was important to the Koopas, the Koopas were, in and of themselves, not important to the humans. All they wanted to know was whether or not the Koopas had any knowledge of where their children may have been going. Luca began to wonder if going to the Koopa's castle was such a good idea since the only Koopa that might know where their children were headed was likely not there. The thought that this may have just been a wild goose chase most certainly did cross his mind, which he quickly voiced to his wife.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked her. "Our children are long gone from this area and with this Kamek leaving, I'm wondering if we shouldn't be heading out, too. The chances that the Koopas here know where our children are headed is slim, especially if they're not taking any further action."

"The ship doesn't depart back to the Mushroom Kingdom until this evening and we have no other way off this island," Mia answered. "Right now, the Koopas might be our best bet, both for finding out where our kids may be headed, and for getting off this island quickly if we do, indeed, find their destination."

Luca could not find any fault with his wife's logic. Doing something was better than doing nothing. They turned to the Yoshi and asked, "So, you've been here so you know the layout. How do we get in undetected?"

"I didn't," the Yoshi answered. The humans slumped over, dejected.

"Then what happened?" they asked in unison.

"I stormed the castle with the red-capped baby and fought my way to the inner tower where the green-capped baby and stork were being held captive."

"Then they'll have beefed up security," Mia concluded.

"Not if no one important is here," Luca answered. "If Kamek and Bowser aren't here, they could just be packing up. If we don't do anything too suspicious, we might be able to search the castle and find some clues as to where the stork is taking the children."

"But wouldn't they be sending their forces to take your children, then?" the Yoshi asked.

"Possibly, but this is our best chance," Mia answered.

"And I have an idea on how we may be able to gain access to the castle," Luca added.

"What's your plan?" Mia inquired, eager to hear more.

"Well, everyone needs a plumber at one point or another," Luca answered with a smile. "And if they're packing up and leaving the castle, then we may be able to help with the move. That gives us two options."

"So, which one do we choose?"

"Both," Luca answered. "I'm a plumber so I can check the pipe systems to see if everything is okay. I'll just say that the Yoshi's Island Travel Board has heard that certain pipes may be under investigation for leaks due to shoddy construction. I'll be here to investigate and make a report. You and the Yoshi, can be members of a moving company looking for work and have found out about the Koopas' plans to move."

Mia was skeptical. "I don't exactly look the part," she told him flatly. Luca had to admit that he did not necessarily disagree with his wife. A pink sleeveless shirt and white shorts did not make one think of workers for a moving company.

Luca then went over to Yoshi and asked, "Did you come across a storage shed in the castle?"

The Yoshi shook his head. He then produced a pair of binoculars and held them up to his eyes. "What are you doing?" Luca asked.

"Trying to find you that storage shed," the Yoshi answered. "You want to be able to look the part, right?" The humans nodded. "While Koopas may only have shells, there are other servants of the Koopa Kingdom that aren't Koopas, or don't have as pronounced shells. There may be a uniform for your wife to wear."

"Let's hope so," Luca said.

The Yoshi's gaze swept over the castle's battlements as he searched for a storage area or shed that could be used to help the humans sell their cover story to the Koopas. The battlements appeared to be deserted since he could see nary a soul standing on the walls. His gaze then focused on the towers that were lit. Inside, he saw some Koopas that he had not seen before. They had green shells but also wore green helmets and they had hammers with them. He did not recognize the type of Koopas that were in the towers. He doubted that they were Magikoopas like Kamek, but there was something about them that indicated to him that they were definitely Koopa elites.

The Yoshi then continued his search but he could find nothing in the castle walls that indicated a secret area. He soon expanded his search to areas around the castle. Sure enough, only a few dozen meters away from the castle door was a small wooden shack that looked like a tool shed. He then went over to the humans and told them, "I think I may have found what you're looking for."

He then pointed down at the shed near the castle. Luca scanned for the shed and soon found it. The Yoshi handed him the binoculars and he looked down at the shed and grinned. "I do think you're right," the told the Yoshi.

"During my search of the castle, I also found out who was in those lit towers. They seem to be another elite Koopa. They had green shells, green helmets, and carried hammers. I would not want to face them in battle."

"I hope we won't have to," Luca said, echoing the Yoshi's sentiments. "If this works, we'll just get in and get out with no one the wiser."

The group began to make their way to the shed but as they were going, Mia turned to her husband and the Yoshi and held up her hand. "Yoshi, that's your name, right?"

The Yoshi nodded.

"You should stay back here. I'll go down to the shed. They'll be less suspicious of me if I go down to investigate the shed. They might not put two and two together."

"I'll go down and ask about any plumbing problems. I can finagle with the best of 'em," Luca declared.

"I hope you don't do it at work," Mia quipped almost suspiciously.

"Don't worry honey. I'm as honest as they come," he answered, doing his best not too sound too sheepish.

Mia gave no indication as to whether or not she believed her husband but soon put the whole thing out of mind. She simply stepped out over the rock outcropping and darted down the hill, making her way down the hill as if she were a natural. Once she was down the hill, she slowed down and feigned getting her bearings. She soon looked out over the dirt field and spied the shed. She quickly made her way over to the shed, making it seem as if she were either famished or practically dying of thirst from being on a long journey. She wanted to make sure that any spotters from the castle were not too suspicious of her.

When she reached the shed she saw that the door was unlocked. Apparently, whatever was in the shed was not all that valuable to the Koopas, assuming it actually belonged to the Koopas at all, which she was beginning to question. She grabbed the latch, pushed it down, and swung the door open.

When she looked inside, she saw several robes of a variety of colors. The robes looked to have hoods on them. She strongly suspected that these were the robes worn by Bandits. In addition, she saw several sets of clothes that looked like they would fit her. Taking a closer look at the clothes, she saw that the shirt was not only her size, but it also had the words _Vanilla Movers_ on it, along with a logo. The logo also had the image of a Yoshi head. This was great. It would be easy for her and Yoshi to sell their cover of being movers. Even better, though, was the fact that there were also plumbing tools spotted. She saw several plungers and wrenches of various types. There was even a tool belt. This would help her husband with his cover as well. She also saw a suspicious gray pipe sitting in the corner. Mia went over to investigate the pipe and when she did so, she saw several large coins with tens on them. She grabbed the coins and then the clothes, tools, and belt and departed. As she was departing, though, she heard a knocking sound and looked back at the pipe. The pipe was rattling a bit but it soon stopped. Thinking little of it, Mia left the shed and returned to the hill with the Yoshi.

Once she got back, she saw that her husband was still there. She smiled and told him, "For once I'm glad you didn't decide to rush off."

"What did you find in the shed?"

"Something that will help us sell our cover a lot better."

Mia then presented him with the tool belt and tools. She then showed off her own set of clothes. They were a pair of overalls and a long sleeved shirt with the Vanilla Movers logo on it. They would fit her perfectly. There was also a _Vanilla Movers_ cap for the Yoshi to wear. She handed her husband the tool belt and gave a cap to the Yoshi. The dinosaur put it on his head and asked, "How do I look?"

"Like you're a mover," Mia answered.

She then put on her long-sleeved shirt, overalls, and cap, and then went over to her husband. He looked back at her and smiled for a second before becoming more serious. "I'll head down there now," he told her. "It would be suspicious if we just went up to the castle too close together especially since humans are rare and since our children were held there not too long ago."

Mia and the Yoshi nodded in agreement. "We should space our visits to at least fifteen minutes apart, possibly twenty or more," Luca told them. "If I find something I'll contact you on our phone. The two way radio should still be working."

With that, the human male made his way down the hill and towards the large castle looming out in front of him. As he approached the castle he could not help but have a sense of foreboding about it. There was definitely evil here, even if they were all packing up and preparing to leave, as the Yoshi had indicated. He quickly did his best to shake off the feeling and continue onwards, knowing that the only lead on the locations or destinations of his children he might be able to find at the moment would be inside that castle.

When he arrived at the front gate of the castle, he saw a massive stone door that looked to be at least two stories tall. There was a large round door knocker that was located at the chest level of the human. He grabbed the knocker and used it to rap at the massive door. After slamming the knocker into the door several times, each rap emitting a loud, low crash, he stood back and waited for a response. For a while, there did not seem to be a response of any sort. He looked up at the battlements and saw that they were devoid of any activity. He then knocked again. "Hey, is anyone here? I heard that there were some plumbing issues. Can anyone hear me?"

Suddenly, there was a loud clank and the door began to rise. "Yeah, yeah, we hear ya," came the response from behind the door. The voice was not all that deep despite its gruff tone.

As the door rose, the source of the voice was revealed. It was a yellow skinned bipedal turtle-like creature with a green shell on its back. He was crossing his arms and looking sternly at the human. At first, he had been looking down, expecting to see either a Shy Guy or even a Goomba, so he was caught off guard when he saw that he was talking disrespectfully to a human, a pretty big one at that. His gaze shifted upwards but his expression only shifted from stern to annoyed. As soon as the door had finished rising, there was another clank, indicating that it was fully open. "Well, whadaya want?" the Koopa asked gruffly.

"I'm the plumber," Luca answered, indicating his tool belt. His expression made it seem as if he had been expected.

"We don't need any plumbers," the Koopa growled in retort as he turned to go over to the lever that controlled the gate.

"Well, you're the only castle around here and my boss got a call saying that there was a leak in the castle somewhere," Luca answered. "The company sent me out to investigate and to fix it if it needed fixing."

"I didn't hear anything about this," the Koopa retorted skeptically.

"Check with your superiors. I'm sure they're expecting me."

"What superiors?" the Koopa retorted with a snort. "We're packin' up and leavin'. There's nothin' for us here in this castle anymore, not since that Yoshi beat up Prince Bowser, sent Kamek packing, and rescued that human kid and stork."

"Well, the company sent me out here for a reason. Maybe someone still sees some value here. Are you planning on selling the castle?"

"Not that I know of," the Koopa answered. "But it would be just like Kammy to keep me in the dark about somethin' like this." He then shrugged and continued, "Fine, you can go in. If you find a leak, fix it, but don't dally. If there's no leak, then get out and find your leak in another castle."

"Will do," Luca said, tipping his cap. "And thanks."

"Don't thank me yet," the Koopa growled as he stepped aside to grant the human entrance. "If I find that you're not a plumber, I'll shell-smack you good."

"Don't worry about that," Luca answered as he walked forward and made his way into the castle.

As he entered the castle, he took a moment to look around and get his bearings. The first hall was made of plain stone and lit by torchlight. It was massive and it looked to go on for well over a hundred yards. "What's wrong?" he heard the Koopa taunt from behind. "Can't find your way?"

"Any advice would be useful," Luca answered.

"My advice is this; get down to the basement now," the Koopa grunted.

"Fine," Luca answered with a grunt. He then feigned mumbling about the Koopa's gruff manner as he searched for the stairwell to the basement. As he searched, he glanced backwards every now and then to make sure that the Koopa was not following him. He wanted to find any indication of where his children either might be or might be headed and get out of here as quickly as possible. As he made his way through the hall, he could not help but notice how empty the castle was, and how it was designed to hold a lot more people than he saw. Aside from what looked to be a few Koopa janitors, he encountered no one in this castle whatsoever. He even overheard some of the janitors grumbling about how much of a mess that Prince Bowser had made when he had fought a green Yoshi and how it had not been worth it to keep the human child and stork here, even before the Yoshis had rescued them.

After some more exploring of the castle, he eventually found his way to a stairwell and went through the small archway leading to it. To his left were the stairs that led to the basement while the stairs to his right led up to the next level. Seeing no one around, he decided to make his way up to the next level to see if there was anything there that could be useful. He hoped that there would be some abandoned quarters that would have clues for him and his wife.

As for Mia and Yoshi, they waited the requisite twenty minutes before making their move. Once the time had passed, and they had heard nothing from Luca, Mia turned to Yoshi and said, "It's time for us to go."

Yoshi put on his cap and a saddle that made it look like he was the heavy lifter of the duo. They deftly made their way down the hill and over towards the humongous castle in the distance. As they made their way towards the castle, a sense of foreboding came over Mia and she shivered as she got closer to the castle, something the Yoshi was quick to notice.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Mia assured him, shaking off the feeling. "I just got a sense of dread coming over me when I approached the castle."

"Maybe it's the effect of a lingering magical spell," Yoshi suggested. "Kamek is a powerful magician. He had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve when we went to rescue the green-capped kid."

Mia agreed, chalking her sense of dread up to a spell but she still remained on high alert. The last thing she wanted to do was fall headfirst into a trap. As they neared the castle, Mia scanned the battlements and the visible towers. The battlements were still empty but the lights coming from several of the towers had gone out. It appeared as if the Koopas were almost ready for departure. Mia began to worry that they would not grant her and Yoshi entry since they would not need movers at this point.

When she arrived at the castle's gate, she saw a massive round doorknocker on the door. She grabbed the ring and rapped against the door, the rapping creating a thunderous clang. For her, though, it only took a few seconds for the loud clank to sound and the door begin to rise. Standing in the doorway was the same Koopa that had met Luca at the entrance. When he saw that the people at the door were a human female and a Yoshi, slumped forward and groaned. "Unless you're special entertainment, go away!" he bellowed.

Mia and Yoshi feigned being taken aback by the Koopa's attitude. Mia then glanced at Yoshi quizzically and asked, "Are you sure this is the right address?"

"Yoshi," the Yoshi answered with a nod, acting as if he did not know any language other than his own but still getting the point across to the Koopa.

"What are _you_ here for?" the Koopa grunted. "Just so you know, I've already had a guy, a human no less, come to the castle sayin' that there's a leak somewhere. What are you, the cleaner?"

"No," Mia answered, doing her best to feign nervousness and embarrassment. "Actually, we're the movers."

"Well we don't need any," the Koopa answered gruffly. "We're already moving, the sooner the better. This has been the worst few days of my life."

"Well, if you're moving, won't you need movers?" Mia asked.

"Yoshi! Yoshi yoshi yoshi."

"What did he just say?" the Koopa roared.

Mia did her best to blush. "Well…he just said that you're not all that smart."

The Koopa's eyes lit up as he glared at the Yoshi, causing the dinosaur to back away a few steps. "Well, he said that because we have an order here from our bosses telling us that you hired us to help you move. Besides, Yoshi here is super strong. He can lift a ton of things that you can't and can carry them to wherever you need them to go."

"Aw come on, not you, too!" the Koopa almost whined.

"What do you mean, not us too?"

"That other human said that he was hired by the staff of this castle to fix a leak. Now you're tellin' me that you've been hired to help with the move?"

Mia then pulled out a sheet of paper with the orders to help the people in the Koopa Castle to move their belongings and showed it to the Koopa. She had written it up on the fly while Luca had been making his way to the castle just in case she needed some extra help in convincing the gatekeeper to let her and Yoshi in. It had been written in haste so she knew that it did not look like it was a legal document or receipt. She just hoped that the Koopa would not take too close a look at it.

The Koopa examined the document and then sighed. "Fine, you can go in, too. Go to the third floor. The few of us that are still here are packing the last of the things so we can load them onto the airship. We'll need everything in the ship since King Morton wants us back at base as soon as possible."

"Got it," Mia answered as the Koopa stepped aside to let her and the Yoshi in.

As the two walked past, the Koopa could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. He immediately closed the gate and once it was closed he locked it. He then left his post to go find a castle guard to confirm that the Koopas had hired some movers. And while he was at it, he would ask about the plumber, too. Having two humans show up, one male, the other a female, just after a human baby had been taken to the castle was a little too suspicious for him to let go.

Mia and Yoshi continued past the entrance and made their way down the massive hallway, searching each side for any signs of a stairwell. Eventually, they found a stairwell in an alcove to their right marked by two lit torches. They made their way to the stairwell and took it up to the third floor.

When they emerged on the third floor, they found it not quite as desolate as the entrance hall had been. This one had a few Koopas seemingly running errands and carrying boxes with some even hauling crates. The appearance of the human and Yoshi did not cause them to bat an eye or ask what they were doing here. Apparently, they were either expecting help in their move or simply did not care what was going on as long as they were not in danger.

As the two continued down the hallway to make their way to the nearest room, a Koopa, this one with a green shell and a green helmet and holding a hammer, came up from behind and startled the human and Yoshi, blurting, "You two, Room Three-Oh-One needs movers to help pack up the magic books. The airship's gonna arrive soon and we need everything to already be squared away."

"Yes, sir," Mia answered as she and Yoshi rushed to reach Room 301. As they searched for the room, Mia uttered a silent prayer of thanks that her and Yoshi's deception was not discovered. While she had no intentions of fighting the Koopas, she did not want them discovering their presence either. It was her hope that she would simply find what she needed and could then leave without any issues.

After searching for a few more seconds, the group found Room 301. The door was a large metal door that looked like to be very heavy. There was a small window with three metal bars in the window, giving the impression that it was a cell. Gripping the doorknob, she turned it and saw that the door was not locked. She then pushed open the door and she and the Yoshi immediately entered.

The interior of the room looked to be well organized. There were stacks of boxes and crates that had locks on them. They suspected that the crates were ready for transport to the airship. Mia found a few alcoves, a hallway that led to another room that had even more boxes, and also a couple of doors that led to other rooms. The Yoshi looked around and soon went over to Mia and asked, "Do they want us to take all of this stuff to the airship?"

"Probably," Mia answered.

"We'd better get some confirmation on it."

Just then, one of the doors opened and a female Koopa came out. She was dressed in pink robes, had a pink witch's hat, and had brown hair that looked to be divided into several thick locks. In her right hand was a gold magic wand with a red crystal ball for a head. When she saw the human and Yoshi, she gasped and took a step back in shock. "What the…? How did you get in here?"

"We're from Vanilla Movers," Mia answered. "We were hired to help you with your move."

"I remember making no such arrangements," the Magikoopa answered.

"Are you the one in charge here?" Mia asked.

"I am now," the Koopa answered. "I'm Kammy, the prettiest Koopa in these parts. And I am an elite Magikoopa, second only to Kamek. So you'd better tell us what you're doing here, especially with a Yoshi."

"Why's having a Yoshi bad?" Mia asked, feigning ignorance.

"A group of Yoshis took a child and a stork from our care and beat up Prince Bowser earlier today. Our fannies are gonna be in slings over this when Morton reads the final report."

Mia did her best to look surprised. "So what about our job. If you didn't hire us, who did?"

"Don't know," Kammy shrugged. "Probably some lazy rank and file Koopa who couldn't be bothered to pull his own weight."

"So what do you want us to do?"

Kammy's expression became a little more thoughtful as she stood there, silent, for a few minutes. Eventually, she answered, "Well since you're already here and you're undoubtedly gonna want payment just for coming, I guess having a couple more sets of hands wouldn't hurt. Just don't go looking into those crates or boxes. For that matter, don't let that Yoshi near any of them, either. Our past bad experiences with Yoshis won't be forgotten very soon."

"Understood, ma'am," Mia answered. She then turned to Yoshi and proclaimed jovially, "Well, let's get to work." She then turned back to Kammy and asked, "Where do you want us to take these crates and boxes?"

"Take them to the airship."

"Where's that?"

Just as Mia had asked the question, she heard a loud sound that was reminiscent of a helicopter with some hints of propeller planes as well. "It's right outside," Kammy said with a satisfied smile. "It'll be docked on the battlements just outside the east tower. You can start taking these crates to it now. We need to do this double time since we may be gettin' the call soon."

"Got it."

Mia then went over to a conveniently placed hand truck and asked Kammy, "Mind if we use this?"

"Not at all, just make sure you don't take it with you when you're done."

"Thanks."

Kammy then returned to her room, muttering audibly at how incompetent the movers must be if they forgot their own hand truck. Kammy then drew the door to a close but it did not latch and, thus, it remained ajar. As Mia went to get one of the boxes in the hallway, she managed to overhear Kammy talking to someone.

"Well what did you expect? Of course Kamek couldn't send the best of his forces to take the second child if he was stuck babysitting Prince Bowser. And he still managed to get a pretty decent sized army to serve him on this tropical island."

"I don't consider thieves, local fauna and carnivorous flora to be a decent army," she soon heard deep, gravelly masculine voice answer gruffly. "Heck, I'd hesitate to call the Shy Guys that Kamek relies on so much a decent army, either. If I remember correctly, he actually had to cast a spell on Raphael the Raven to get the guy to serve him."

"That is unclear at the moment," Kammy answered. "Anyway, what do you want us to do here? We're already packing up and preparing to leave since Kamek took Prince Bowser away."

"Just get out of there and report back here. Has the airship arrived yet?"

"It just got here."

"Good. Pack up and bring me everything. We need to get those children back right now."

Kammy then paused for a moment before asking, "Sire, may I ask what you intend to do with the children? If Kamek's future visions are true, why not just kill them now? That way, they won't reach the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Because Kamek wanted them alive," the voice answered. "Besides, my spies in the Mushroom Kingdom have reported that the babies' parents have come to this world and are searching for them. If we find them, we could use this to our advantage and get ourselves some game-changing help in the future."

"The parents have come?" Kammy asked, surprised at the statement.

"Of course," the male voice answered. "These are humans, and not the pre-Third World War and pre-Spiritual Revolution Earth humans, either. These humans will die for their children and worse, kill to protect them."

"What do they look like?" Kammy asked in a suspicious tone.

That was Mia's cue to leave. She went over to the Yoshi and said, "Time's up. We have to leave now. Get one of those crates and look busy. Once we take it to the airship, we're out of here."

"What happened?"

"I think Kammy will be on to us soon."

That was all the Yoshi needed. He went over to a light crate and had Mia lift it onto his back and onto the saddle. As they continued to work, they heard the voice answer, "Well, the spies indicate that the father is a middle-weight man in his mid-twenties with brown hair, blue eyes, and a brown mustache. The mother is a woman of the same age with blond hair and blue eyes. The man was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with blue pants, similar to what a plumber would wear. The blond woman was last seen wearing a purple dress."

"Did you say blond hair and blue eyes?" Kammy asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Because I think I just saw her," Kammy answered. "In fact, she may even still be in my room. What are your orders?"

"Monitor them but take no action against them unless they take action against you. We don't want to make them enemies if we can help it."

"But what will happen when they learn that Kamek kidnapped their children from the stork?"

"It will be easy to turn that into Kamek trying to rescue the children. They need not know about our plans for the children."

"Understood, sire. Over and out."

When Kammy shut down the line, she went over to the door and pushed it open, looking to see if the human was still there. She found that the room was empty. She grimaced. Still, she could not shake the feeling that the human was the babies' mother. It was then that a Koopa came storming into her room, panting.

"Man, I've been lookin' for you everywhere," he wheezed.

Kammy was more than a little annoyed at the intrusion. "Well, what is it?" she bellowed.

"Mistress Kammy, I have come to inform you about a human woman that says she's part of the Vanilla Movers moving company."

"Yes, she was just here."

"Well, I did some checking and I found that they have no humans in their employ. Normally, I would not think too much of it, but not much earlier, a human claiming to be a plumber came saying that a plumbing company had been hired to fix a leak."

"Yeah, we've got leaks in the basement," Kammy answered. "So what?"

"Still, I thought that it was suspicious, seeing two humans arrive so close together."

Kammy was about to make a disrespectful quip when she thought back to her conversation with King Morton. Her eyes lit up. Suddenly, it all made sense. "Find the humans, the man and woman, and bring them to me now. They are not my captives…yet. Just bring them to me. Then have me talk to Kamek. We need King Morton to have deniability."

"Understood," the Koopa answered. "May I ask who you think they are?"

"They're the babies' parents," Kammy answered. "And I'm sure that the Yoshi with her is the same Yoshi that beat up Prince Bowser earlier today."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Meanwhile, Luca was going about the castle, doing his best to find out any information that the few remaining Koopas had on the events of the past two days and if they were making any plans that could lead him and Mia to finding Mario and Luigi. Of course, he did while claiming to be searching for any potential subsequent leaks in the castle. He had managed to feign finding one in the basement and fix it before it became a threat to the castle's foundation, but that would only get him so far in his quest. As he had been making his rounds, he had been listening carefully to any conversations between any of the castle's occupants present. So far, they had reported that a human woman and a green Yoshi had appeared not long after another human had come to the castle but they did not see it as being any concern. They were primarily focused on packing up and leaving, most of them returning to the Koopa Kingdom while the others would go with Kamek and Prince Bowser to this Egg Island to turn it into his new vacation home. Still, he knew that Kamek would take another shot at getting his children and if he did, then this Egg Island would likely be the place they were taken. He knew that he would need to get this information to Mia.

Seeing no one in the current corridor, he searched for a storage room. Finding a door not too far away, he went over to it, opened it, and found that, indeed, it was a storage room. He only hoped that he would be able to get a signal to his wife since he was currently only on the ground floor and inside a storage room that likely had thick walls and may have possibly even doubled as a secret exit. He took out his phone and flipped it open. Dialing Mia's number, he awaited her answer as the ringtone came in over his own phone. After a few rings, he got a response. "Yes Luca, what is it?" He easily picked up on the stress in her voice.

"Are you okay honey?"

"I'm fine for now," Mia answered. "But you need to get out of here now. I think that Kammy Koopa has either discovered me or is about to. Anyway, my guess is that she knows that we aren't who we said we were."

"Okay honey, tell me where you are and I'll pick you up."

"You didn't hear me just now. I've likely been discovered. You have to get out of this castle now. The destination of our children is likely somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom. You have to continue the search."

"I won't just abandon you. Besides, if you haven't been discovered yet…"

"Then I'll be joining you shortly," Mia finished. "Just make sure that you make it out safely."

"I will," Luca assured her. He then disconnected the signal and put his phone away.

He then left the storage room only to find six Koopa Troopas standing right in front of him, pointing spears at him. Behind them were another half dozen Koopas with green helmets and each of them brandishing hammers.

"Don't move a muscle," one of the Koopa Troopas growled menacingly. He then thrust his spear forward in order for Luca to banish any idea of fighting his way out of this predicament.

"May I ask what this is about?" the man asked, feigning ignorance. "I'm the plumber you guys hired to fix the leaks in the castle."

"So you said," the Koopa scoffed. "Only we did some digging and it seems as if no one actually hired anyone to fix the plumbing here. We were just about to abandon this place anyway, so it would be kinda foolish to spend resources fixing up a castle we weren't gonna use anymore. And then we got to thinkin', wasn't it strange for a human to show up on our doorstep so soon after a couple of human babies had been kidnapped and subsequently rescued. All I can think is that you're related to the kids that were bein' delivered by the stork. Who are you? Their father? Their uncle?"

Luca saw no point in lying. "Their father," he answered with resignation.

"Well that explains it. And where's the mother?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

"I think he does," another Koopa bellowed, this one brandishing a hammer.

"We can find out one way," the first Koopa began. "Take him to Kammy. She'll be able to tell us everything he knows, particularly what his plans for us were."

"My plan is to find my children," Luca answered, saving them the trouble. "They were here not too long ago. I know that a stork took them away and I am looking for any leads on where they may be going. I have no ill will towards you at all. In fact, for all I know, you may have been trying to rescue them."

"I wouldn't mind knowing that myself," the Koopa muttered under his breath. He then got back to business and told the others, "Take him to Kammy. Make sure he is unharmed."

"Understood," one of the hammer-wielding Koopas answered. The group then led Luca away. He considered making a fight of it and trying to escape but he knew that his wife was still in the castle, and she was also the one with the Thunder Rages. He would not abandon her, and if he was taken to Kammy, perhaps he could lead them on wild goose chases for her and give her a chance to get out. Then, if she managed to get away, he would do his best to fight his way free.

Meanwhile, Mia was doing her best to blend in with the other movers. So far, no one had acted suspiciously around her, the few Koopas that she had crossed paths with. The few remaining Koopas must have been like her, transporting supplies and cargo to the airship. Now that it had arrived, they were likely on the clock, and ostensibly so was she. She was tempted to simply leave the castle and wait for the airship to leave but considering what she had heard from Kammy, she suspected that it was better to remain. The last thing she wanted was to leave her husband if he had gotten into trouble.

Following the signs, she and the green Yoshi had managed to make it to the docking area. Here, there were more Koopas and likely other servants of the Koopa Kingdom, for they spotted several figures in robes of different colors and white masks that covered their faces. The masks had holes for their eyes and mouths, though neither feature was visible.

"Those are Shy Guys," the Yoshi told Mia, pointing to them. "They're weak and can be fairly easily beaten. Bandits are actually a type of Shy Guy. They tend to wear red robes but as you can see, some will wear different colored robes. I don't know of any difference in strength between the various colors of Shy Guy."

Mia nodded and did her best to blend in with the other movers. When she looked out at the other Koopas, she found the one in charge and asked, "So, where do you want us to put this cargo?"

The Koopa pointed to a stack of crates on a lift that was about to take them to the airship. "Put them on the lift."

"Got it," Mia and the Yoshi answered.

They went over to the lift and placed the crate and boxes on lift on top of one of the crates and next to a stack of larger crates. Once they were finished, they heard the Koopa bellow once more, "Hey you, come over here."

Mia's hair stood on end as she worried that she had been discovered. "Stay here and don't draw any attention to yourself," she told the Yoshi.

The Yoshi nodded as Mia made over to the Koopa trying to look as casual as she could. "Is everything okay?" she asked as casually as she could once she arrived, trying to look innocent.

"Let's find out," the Koopa answered.

He then looked down at his sheet. "Blond hair," he began. He looked up at Mia and saw her hair. "Check," he continued. "Blue eyes," came next. Looking at her eyes, he clearly saw that they were blue. "Check." He looked down at his sheet once more. "Purple dress." He glanced at the woman and went, "Nope," as he put an X on that part of the checklist. "Still, close enough to warrant a second check. He then looked back at her and told her, "You're comin' with me. The boss wants to have a word with you."

"Have I done something wrong?" Mia asked, not only trying to sound like she did not know what was going on but also to try to get the Koopa to reveal his plans and if she should either be worried or be getting ready to use the Thunder Rages she had in her sack.

"Don't know yet," the Koopa answered. "It's just that your description pretty closely fits a woman that we've gotten an APB for. Come with me. We'll have this sorted out shortly."

"Okay," Mia answered with trepidation. She then followed the Koopa as he led her back out of the docking area and back towards the third floor's main hallway. Two Koopas quickly fell in line behind her to make sure that she did not think about trying to escape. The Yoshi made like he was going to follow her but Mia surreptitiously waved him off so he remained in the shadows.

The Koopa quickly noticed that the Yoshi was not following her, and that he could not lay eyes on the dinosaur, and asked Mia, "Where is that dinosaur partner that was with you?"

"Probably still doing his job in loading the airship," Mia answered with a shrug, looking around for any sign of her partner. She suppressed a sigh of relief when she was unable to spot him. That gave her hope that he could at the very least escape. With all of the activity near the airship, they probably would not view a dinosaur with the uniform of a moving company with very much suspicion, even if it were a Yoshi. As such, no one was suspicious when the Yoshi walked out of the area and exited the castle after Mia and her captors were out of sight and the other Koopas had gotten back to their work.

As for Mia, she was led back to Room 301. The door was ajar but she could hear nothing coming from the room. A part of her dreaded that her husband had also been caught. Her fears were confirmed when the door swung open and she saw Kammy Koopa standing with her husband, surrounded half a dozen heavily armored Koopas. These Koopas wore metal armor, had spiked helmets, and also had spikes on their shells. Apparently, they were concerned about being jumped on. Luca's heart sank at the sight of his wife being 'escorted' into the room by a number of Koopas. Mia just gave an uncomfortable smile.

"I take it you two know each other," one of the armored Koopas said, noting the two humans' reaction to seeing each other.

There was no point in denying it. They both nodded. "We're married," Luca answered.

"And why are you here?" the armored Koopa continued.

Luca gave a sigh. "We were here to follow up on a lead regarding the location of our kidnapped children. We hoped that it would give us their current location or at least where they were headed."

The Koopa looked over at Mia and she confirmed her husband's statement. "It's true. All we want are our children. We have no ill will towards you."

The Koopa remained skeptical. He then directed their attention towards the door that led to Kammy's room. The door soon opened and the female Magikoopa soon stepped out. They noted that Kammy did not seem to be holding her wand, or she merely had it hidden underneath her cloak. Her hands and arms were also not visible. Looking at the humans, she gave an appraising look and laughed. "It was only a matter of time before your true intentions were revealed and you were brought before me."

"They say they have nothing against the Koopa Kingdom," the Koopa told her in a skeptical tone.

"Of course they don't," Kammy answered. "At least not yet."

The Koopa was greatly surprised by Kammy's statement. "Then why did you wish for us to bring them to you?"

"So I could confirm their story, and so I could decide what to do with them," the Magikoopa answered. Kammy then turned to the humans. "So, you want to know where your children were located. First tell me how you learned that they had been here at one time."

"A magician in the Mushroom Kingdom saw that they were located on a tropical island with dinosaurs on it," Mia answered. "From a map and information about this world and its inhabitants, that narrowed it down to two islands: this island and Lavalava Island. This island was on the path of a cruise liner, so we decided to check out this island first. It looks as if we were a little too late."

"And why did you come to this castle in particular?" Kammy asked.

"We encountered a group of native inhabitants that indicated that babies had been taken to a castle," Luca answered. "Considering that this is the closest castle on the island, we decided to check here first."

"And what did you find?"

"Only that the stork had been here and that its final destination was somewhere inside the Mushroom Kingdom," Mia replied.

Kammy then opened her cloak a bit and removed her hands from it, revealing the magic wand. On the wand's crystal ball-like head was the head of another figure. "Did you get all of that Kamek?" Kammy asked.

"I did," came the answer. "Good work. I'll head over to the Mushroom Kingdom at once. I'll have to head on over to Prince Bowser's vacation home afterward, though. Make sure everything is packed up and taken back to King Morton as quickly as possible. If anything happens, I'll need your help. This time, the babies won't escape us."

"Wait, let us come with you!" Mia insisted, leaning forward.

This caused a Koopatrol to grab her and shove her down. "Speak when you're spoken to!" he roared.

"Stop!" Kammy screeched, causing both Mia and the Koopatrol to recoil. "Let her speak. I want to hear what they have to say."

The Koopatrol's eyes went wide with surprise but he did not dare disobey Kammy since she was one of the most powerful Magikoopas, second only to Kamek, maybe. He backed away and let Mia speak.

Mia was the first to make their case. "Kammy, we are the parents of the babies that Kamek is looking for. Let us help you if someone else tries to take them. I know for a fact that more than one force is after them. They were initially kidnapped by a group of elves. If they learn of the babies' location, they'll go after them."

"And we'll stop them," one of the Koopatrols declared haughtily.

"Silence!" Kammy screeched to the Koopatrol, causing him to recoil. She then turned back to Mia and directed, "Continue."

"These elves say that our babies are destined to become great heroes and that is why they want them so badly, so that they can make them into heroes and train them to be warriors from birth. They think that we aren't suited for them since we wish to live on Earth, the most heavily defended planet in the government that we are affiliated with." Mia made sure not to mention the Galactic Federation by name on the off chance that the Koopas may have had some animosity towards them. "I think you can see the flaw in their strategy, especially if this so-called Enemy finds out the origin of our children."

"That would be a problem, yes," Kammy agreed.

"When we arrived, we encountered some Toads from the Mushroom Kingdom," Luca added. Kammy had no reaction to the mentioning of the Mushroom Kingdom but he noticed the face of the Magikoopa in the wand bristle at the mention of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Toads. "We learned little from the castle's library, but a wizard and the owner of the Toad Town Library were more helpful. They were the ones that guided us to this island. However, that was last night. Apparently, we arrived here too late to find our children."

"And what about the Yoshi that was with you?" Kammy asked Mia, looking directly at her. "Our last encounter with the Yoshis was hostile. They are the ones that freed the stork and allowed it to take your children to the destination likely chosen by these elves. Not only that, but one of the Yoshis stormed this very castle and beat up Prince Bowser, forcing Kamek to take him away for his own safety."

"We found out about Yoshi Village from a flier on the cruise ship. When we arrived, we encountered a Yoshi and he agreed to help us find our children," Mia answered. "One of them had heard about some babies arriving at a castle and guided us to the rumored location. He was not more specific." Mia's answer came casually enough that it would have been difficult to know that she was hiding something from Kammy about the Yoshi. While she wanted to gain the trust of the Koopas and the prospect of the Yoshis fighting Prince Bowser did have the possibility of being a case of the Yoshis mistaking Kamek's supposed rescue of the babies as a kidnapping and Prince Bowser winding up in the middle of the fighting, she did not want to throw Yoshi under the bus. Besides, she had a bad feeling about the Koopas and if they did turn out to be enemies, she did not want to reveal Yoshi's presence to them.

Kammy considered what the two humans had told her and asked them, "Is that all?"

"It is so far," Luca answered, nodding. Kammy looked over at Mia, who nodded in agreement.

Kammy then looked into the wand and asked, "So, do you have everything you need?"

"I do," Kamek answered. "I can already sense the stork's location and am in pursuit.

"So what do you want me to do with the humans?"

"Kill them," Kamek answered. "Make it look like the elves did it, though. We need deniability."

Luca and Mia's eyes went wide, feigning shock. Inwardly, though, they already suspected that the Koopas were evil and would dispose of them once their usefulness had ended. They just did not think that it would be so soon.

"Wait, why?" Mia demanded. While she was genuinely surprised, she feigned total shock and hoped that the Koopas would explain themselves while giving her and Luca time to come up with a plan for escape.

It was Kamek who gave them the answer. "First, it is because I saw a vision where the Mario Brothers, your children, defeated King Bowser time and time again. Those defeats cost the lives of many Koopas and also caused misery for many more Koopas. Koopas throughout the world were seen as enemies and evil. They were hated just as much as they were in the aftermath of the Great War during the time of Bowser the Great. As a result, the power of the Koopa Kingdom will go into great decline. Some visions indicate that it will even collapse and that the Marios will kill Bowser. However, if we manage to convince the Mario Brothers to join the Koopa Kingdom, it will usher in a golden age for the Koopas. We will not only rule the Mushroom Kingdom, but also eventually the world. Even without the Marios, we'll still take over the Mushroom Kingdom and could go on from there to conquer the world. Still, things would be much better if the Mario Brothers joined us."

The humans could see the evil smile of Kamek emanate from the wand. They looked back at the other Koopas and found that they were not looking at the humans with any sympathy. However, in the explanation, an idea came to Mia, and from the look of the expression on Luca's face, he was thinking the same thing.

"You know, you're a fool if you kill us now," Mia stated plainly.

"And why is that?" Kammy retorted. "You heard Master Kamek's explanation."

"And it's rather shortsighted," Luca answered, echoing his wife's sentiments.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what will happen if you try to raise them to love the Koopa Kingdom and yet, it is the very kingdom that killed their parents?" Mia asked.

"They won't know," Kammy answered with a laugh. "And even if they did find out, how would that affect anything? They would never know you."

"And that is your failing," Luca finished. He then smiled. "You see, humans can be very vindictive. Our children will know that something is different about them. The Koopas won't be able to hide it. No one will. They're humans, no one else here is. They'll eventually ask about their birth parents. What will you tell them?"

"That you were killed by elves," Kammy answered. That drew a smirk from Luca.

"Your enemies have magic," Luca continued. "What if one of them captures Kamek or any other Koopa here? What happens if he tells the elves or any other enemy the truth? How will you stop that from happening? Kill the ones who kill us? Which of you is willing to die after killing us?" He gazed around at each and every Koopa as he asked the question, knowing that they would be apprehensive about sacrificing themselves just to cover up a couple of murders.

The other Koopas suddenly glanced around at each other and Kammy nervously. They knew that Luca was right and Luca suppressed a grin. He had them. None of them wanted to die what was a potentially meaningless death, which is what would happen after killing the humans.

"Besides, the future is not set in stone," Mia added. This caused Kammy to turn to face her. "You could have the best of both worlds," she said enticingly.

Kammy inched forward. "I'm listening."

"You now know where our children are. Kamek is already going to intercept them. Instead of having to explain the deaths of their parents to two children, why not have us explain how you rescued them from a stork and their elvish captors? Just think about how that will play out with the children, as well as everyone else."

"And what about Lactarius?" Kammy asked skeptically. "After all, did he not help you get here?"

"That was mainly Toadsworth," Luca answered. "And Lactarius couldn't keep his eyes off of Mia. He had other things in mind when we arrived."

"Interesting," Kamek interjected slyly.

"What is it?" Kammy asked curiously.

"Our spies in the Mushroom Kingdom have noticed that King Lactarius has been speaking with an elf," Kamek answered. "It is clear that this elf is _not_ a Hylian or any subspecies of Hylian, either."

"Then the humans' plan could turn out to be very beneficial," Kammy inferred.

"Indeed," Kamek answered in an almost jovial dark tone.

Kammy then stared intently at Kamek and asked, "So, shall I make the change then?"

Kamek nodded.

Kammy then turned to all of the Koopas present and proclaimed, "Okay everyone, change of plans. The humans live. Take them to the airship immediately. They are to be treated well and are _not_ captives. They are our guests. Understand?"

"Understood," each of the Koopas answered in unison, saluting Kammy in the process.

Kammy then stepped aside to allow the Koopas to usher the humans towards the airship. "Follow us, sir and ma'am," they said respectfully, no longer pointing their weapons at the humans. The Koopas then led the humans out of the room and back to the docking area. Two Koopatrols, Kammy's personal guard, remained behind as she went to finish her report to Kamek.

Once the others were out of sight, and out of earshot, Kamek told her in a quiet, cold voice, "Once they board the airship, kill them as we were planning to do earlier. Despite the argument made by the humans, they did not take into account the fact that the Marios would simply be good people, with Bowser and the Koopa Kingdom being evil." He then gave a laugh. "When you kill the humans, make sure to make it look like the elves and Toads did it. I know Lactarius has spies inside the Koopa Kingdom and that there are some in your own ranks."

"Understood, sir," Kammy answered. "And I have already identified them," she said with a sly grin.

As she had said that, one of the Koopatrols immediately drew what looked to be a spear and attempted to thrust it into the back of Kammy Koopa. Before the spear had even been completely drawn, though, the other Koopatrol thrust his spear into the neck of the first Koopatrol. The first Koopatrol immediately went limp and fell to the ground. The moment he died, the image of the Koopatrol vanished and instead, a Toad with a single wound in his head was lying before them.

Kammy then produced a parasol and handed it to her loyal Koopatrol. "Use this Sneaky Parasol on the fallen Toad here. Then find The Trollinator and have him use it on the elf we have in the castle. Of course your job is to kill the elf once finished. Then board the airship under guard. We can't afford to make any mistakes on this."

"Yes, ma'am," the Koopatrol answered.

He then went over to the fallen Toad and pointed the umbrella at the Toad and opened it. A series of silver sparkles erupted from the umbrella and covered the fallen Toad. The moment they covered the fallen Toad, the image of the Koopatrol began to shift. The image spun around for a second until the Koopatrol now looked identical to the fallen Toad.

"Excellent," Kammy said approvingly. She then produced a second parasol and commanded "Now, go get The Trollinator and have him take the place of the captive elf. Make sure that The Trollinator kills the elf and disposes of the body. We can't leave any trace of the Trollinator actually not being the elf."

"Yes, ma'am," the disguised Koopatrol affirmed.

With the Koopa's departure, Kammy took one last look at Kamek and said, "It's begun on our end."

"Excellent," Kamek cooed. "Wish me luck with the babies and Prince Bowser. I'm going to need it. I don't want any more pesky Yoshis to interrupt my plans."

"Good luck sir. We hope to report the demise of the Mario parents shortly."

"And to you, Kammy," was Kamek's final bid before he shut off the connection and the image in the wand's head vanished, leaving nothing more than a red crystal ball on top of the wand.

Kammy then went over to the fallen Toad and pointed her wand at him. As soon as she did so, a bolt of lightning issued from the wand. The magical lightning bolt proceeded to reduce the dead Toad to a pile of ashes, which Kammy then picked up in a magical force field and then threw out the window to be scattered by the wind. With the Toad taken care of, she proceeded to wave her wand and levitate the last of her items: shoes, robes, and books, into a large chest. With a flick of her wrist, the chest snapped shut with a thud and she smiled. After another wave of her wand, the chest rose a few inches off the ground. With all of her belongings packed into the trunk, she then left the room and made her way over to the airship.

Meanwhile, as the Marios were being escorted to the airship, they could not help but feel a little suspicious at what was going on. It still felt as if they were captives, rather than guests, despite Kammy's orders. They also could not shake the feeling that they were walking to their eventual deaths.

As they entered the docking area, they saw that it was packed with more Koopas than they had seen on their first visit. Mia surreptitiously scanned the surrounding area for the Yoshi but she could not find him. _Good_, she thought. He had managed to escape. If anything were to happen, she did not want him to get caught in the middle. Selfishly, the duo hoped that Yoshi's avoiding of detection and likely escape of the castle meant that he would be able to call his friends for help. After a second, though, they shook their heads, merely glad that the Yoshi had managed to escape the castle undetected.

They were soon directed to their left, where they came to a large door that opened up to the outside. "This way, sir and ma'am," the Koopa directed firmly but respectfully.

The Marios followed him and when they stepped outside, they saw that they were standing on the outer wall of a large tower. Looking up, they saw that the tower did not go much higher. They suspected that there was some defensive weapon emplacement on the top of the tower. Outside, they saw a ramp that led to a large airship. The airship greatly resembled an old age of the sail naval galleon, minus the sails. It was kept aloft by a large number of propellers and was bristling with cannons and what looked to be flamethrowers or missile launchers, possibly both. There were two enormous Koopas standing near the boarding ramp to the airship. These Koopas were huge, looking sumo wrestler versions of the Koopas that wielded hammers. In fact, these Koopas also wielded hammers, though they looked miniscule in their massive hands.

As the Koopatrols brought the Marios to the airship, the two Sledge Bros. stood in front of the ramp and held out their unoccupied hands. "Halt," they commanded.

The group stopped.

"This is the security checkpoint. Before boarding this vessel, I must search you to make sure that you are not carrying any weapons," one of the Sledge Bros. stated plainly.

A Koopa came over to the humans and stood in front of them as he patted each of them down thoroughly. Sure enough, the Koopa quickly felt the lumps inside the pockets that represented their firearms. The Koopa reached into the humans' pockets and removed each firearm and handed it over to the security officer.

"So it appears as if you _were_ armed after all," the security officer noted accusingly, as if they had committed a horrible crime by carrying concealed weaponry and that they had lied to the Koopas, even though they made no mention one way or the other of being armed. "Passengers and officers are not allowed to be armed while onboard an airship," the officer said. "Such weapons fire could potentially damage the airship. I'll be holding onto these until we land."

A bad feeling was beginning to come over the Marios now. They looked over at a Koopa Troopa who seemed to have what looked to be an old Earth flintlock gun and they noticed that security was letting him onboard without any issue. They turned to each other and nodded. They had a strong feeling that they were being led right into a trap. Unfortunately, they had little choice but to follow, for they knew that an airship like that would be able to hunt them down at a moment's notice and destroy them, as well as burn down the forests and likely destroy the Yoshis' village. Fortunately, though, the Koopas did not inspect their sacks, so they still had some offensive power in the form of the Thunder Rages and Luca also had the tools in his tool belt if they ran out of Thunder Rages. As such, they would let the Koopas think they had the upper hand for the moment. While the loss of their guns could be problematic in the short term, at least the Koopas had not more thoroughly searched them for their other items.

The Marios were then led onboard the airship, followed by more than a dozen Koopatrols and some more Koopas that had the hammers and slightly larger shells. They also noticed that the security officer who had confiscated their weapons was also coming onboard the airship. Overhearing the conversation by the security officers and a few other Koopas, they learned that the Koopas with the hammers were called Hammer Bros. They also learned that the larger Hammer Bro. that looked more like a Koopa sumo wrestler with a hammer was called a Sledge Bro.

As they boarded the ship, they looked around and saw a large number of Koopas and other minions of what they suspected was Kamek, now Kammy. There were a number of Shy Guys talking amongst each other, along with several Bandits wearing blue robes. They also spotted a few Crazee Dayzees, as well as a couple of Amazy Dayzees. They quickly took note of the enemies and made certain to identify the potential threats. They knew that the Dayzees could be quite dangerous with their songs, but if they used them in such a circumstance, they would also threaten their own allies. As such, they identified the Hammer Bros. and Sledge Bros. as the most pressing threats, followed closely by the Koopatrols.

As they made their way onto the airship, they spotted a series of benches on each side of the wide corridor. They saw several Koopas sitting on the benches, each of them strapped in. They went over to find some unoccupied areas on the benches and sit but one of the Koopas behind them suddenly bellowed, "No. You are to be stationed elsewhere."

The Koopa then directed the humans forward. They soon came to an intersection and the Koopa directed the humans to the right. Along this new corridor were several rooms that the Marios suspected were either quarters or storage areas. The Koopa led them to an unmarked door and told them, "This will be your room for the duration of this journey. It should only last a few hours."

"Thank you," Luca said as the Koopa opened the door and ushered in the two humans.

"I'll be outside if you need anything. The door will be unlocked but I don't recommend leaving at this time. We're still working on getting everyone and everything onboard. Just tell me if you need anything and I'll see to it that you get it."

The humans nodded and the Koopa left. Once the Koopa had departed the door shut closed. The humans glanced around their quarters and saw that it was positively spartan. There was little to no furniture to speak of, only a medium-sized wooden crate and a couple of stools in the corner. They were standing on a gray metal floor and the walls were made out of a substance that looked to be wood but that they felt was stronger than traditional Earth wood. The walls were unpainted and there were no decorations on the walls. In fact, the two spotted several cobwebs. This looked more like a storage area than quarters.

"So, trap?" Luca asked. He already knew the answer.

"Trap," Mia answered, nodding, affirming what he already knew.

"But why would they kill us here and not back at the castle?" Luca asked.

"We'll just have to wait and find out," Mia shrugged.

"Let's hope that whatever they're planning to do, they do so quickly," Luca said, glancing at his watch. "If we don't want to be stranded on this island for a week or taken to the Koopa Kingdom, we have to get off this ship pretty quickly since the cruise ship is leaving for Toad Town tonight."

Mia nodded in agreement. She had a strong feeling that the Koopas would make their move relatively quickly, rather than wait for too long. If things went wrong, the Koopas did not want to be stuck out at sea. Of course, that was assuming that Kammy cared a lick about her minions. The humans did one last check of their inventory, making sure that they had all of their attack items at the ready. Mia noted that they only had five Thunder Rages but if that would suffice if they either managed to get their own weapons back, or if they took any weapons from the Koopas if, or when, they made their move. All they could do now was steel themselves for the Koopas' next move.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

About a half hour later the door opened once more. In came two Koopatrols. They moved forward a few feet and stopped, focusing their gaze on the humans. Luca and Mia did not suspect that they were the ones who would try to kill them so they simply waited to see what the Koopas would do.

"We've come to inform you that we will be taking off within a few minutes," they told her. As they had made that statement, cabin shook and they could hear a motor starting. The sound resembled that of a helicopter. The airship was beginning to take off. "Mistress Kammy wanted us to tell you that she and her party would also be visiting shortly. There has been an interesting development and they wish for your assistance in the matter."

"What development?" Mia asked.

"We don't know," the Koopas answered, their heads unwavering. "We suspect you'll learn when she comes to meet you. Until then," they finished, bowing. After the bow, they turned and departed the room, the door clanking closed behind them. The Marios steeled themselves for a battle. The time was coming. They knew it. The Koopas would make their move when Kammy entered the room. The only question would be how they would come at the humans. Their questions would likely soon be answered as they heard a clank at the door.

The door swung open and the Marios turned and faced the door. In came Kammy Koopa riding a broomstick that had some pink painted into its brush. Following Kammy into the room were two Koopatrols, two regular Koopa Troopas, two Magikoopas dressed in blue robes, two Hammer Bros., a Toad, and an elf. The elf and Toad had their hands bound in front with rope, but the rope looked frayed and flimsy. The humans recoiled at the sight of the elf, for the elf wore the same type of uniform that the elves that had kidnapped their children had worn. They were also surprised at the sight of the Toad. They then took note that one of the Koopa Troopas that had entered was the same one that was working security at the boarding ramp. They even saw him holding their firearms, pointing them at the Toad and elf. Kammy soon lowered herself and stepped off her broomstick, which promptly vanished with a wave of her wand.

"We found these two sneaking onboard the airship," Kammy began, indicating the elf and Toad. The Marios did not know what Kammy was getting at.

"Okay," Mia answered quizzically. "And what does this have to do with us?"

"That should be fairly obvious," Kammy answered with a grin.

Luca then looked over at the elf and Toad and then back at Kammy. "Were they after our children?" he asked.

Kammy grinned. "Yes," she answered, her grin not vanishing. "We found them trying to enter the airship not too long after you boarded. After we interrogated them, we learned that they had overheard our conversation with Kamek about the children."

"Hold on," Luca interjected, holding up his hand. "Why would they try to board the airship? Wouldn't they try to relay the information to Sweylin or simply to a superior officer? And what about the Toad? Why would he try to board the airship? Even if one of them felt the need for more information, why would they board the ship and risk capture, rather than have one flee the castle to make a report?"

Kammy gritted her teeth at the question. She had not anticipated the humans asking so many questions. When they noticed that she was not giving an answer, Mia went, "Well?"

Eventually, Kammy let out a low growl and finally admitted, "I don't know."

Mia then went to answer Kammy, saying, "Maybe they were just trying to get close enough to…" her voice began to trail off as both she and her husband reflexively ducked and turned towards the Toad and elf. That was when the two sprang into action.

The elf immediately elbowed the Koopa Troopa security officers in the torso and turned to punch him in the throat. The Koopa caught the punch with his arm and was about to shoot the elf when a ringing sound was heard. A blade jutted out from under the elf's gauntlet and stabbed the Koopa in the throat, killing him. The elf then grabbed the two guns and twirled around to draw a bead on Luca but found that the human was already there. The human thrust his hand into the elf's throat, only to find that he struck nothing but air despite his hand going through the elf's head. The elf grinned but that did not stop Luca, who quickly ducked a shot to the head from his own laser pistol. The laser blast struck one of the Koopatrols in the torso, burning a hole in his armor and felling the Koopa. That told the human that the elf was not simply intangible.

Luca then waited for the elf to fire again. The elf took aim at the human male once more but Luca quickly performed a leg sweep and knocked the elf off his feet, causing the elf's shot to go wide of the human and inflict a scorch mark on the wall. The sweep was not enough to take the elf out of the fight or disarm him, but it dazed him enough for Luca to reach into his tool belt and draw out a basin wrench. The human then swung with all his might at the elf's torso, hoping to hit the 'elf' to do some structural damage so as to neutralize his threat. The sound of cracking bones could be heard as the wrench made contact with the elf. The 'elf' then fell to the floor in a heap and stopped moving. This surprised Luca as he hit the 'elf' once more in the torso, causing a reflex shudder to the body, along with another sickening crack of bones. Luca then went to pick up his laser pistol and Mia's gun. He fired a couple of shots into the elf, just to make sure that he was dead. The laser shots burned two neat holes into the elf. After doing so, he noticed the image of the elf disappear, only to be replaced with that of a Koopatrol, the two holes having been burned through the head and neck of the elite Koopa soldier.

Meanwhile, during Luca's fight with the 'elf', the Toad had simultaneously made his move against Mia. He quickly turned on the Koopa holding him captive and thrust his hand outward, striking the Koopa in the throat. The Koopa dropped his spear and reflexively grasped at his throat, gurgling and gagging. The Toad quickly finished the Koopa with a single thrust to the throat, the spear biting into the Koopa's flesh with ease. The gagging Koopa was immediately put out of his misery and the Toad withdrew the spear and turned to Mia, thrusting the spear in the spot she had been occupying merely moments ago. The spear only managed to stab air, though, and the Toad turned to see where the human woman was. He got his answer fairly quickly when an open palm strike came right at him from the side. This proved to be fortunate for Mia since when she struck the Toad, while the strike did cause the Toad to recoil and stagger backwards a bit, the strike did sting her hand since it felt like she was hitting metal.

The Toad was far from finished. Brandishing the spear, he thrust it at Mia, who managed to sidestep the thrust and catch the weapon's shaft. She then pulled with a great jerk but the Toad held firm, something that surprised her. The Toad's strength was far greater than she had expected given the little she knew about them and their general temperament. Her gaze on the Toad narrowed and she pulled the spear back even harder, trying to disarm her opponent. The Toad held firm, though, and she scowled. This was no Toad she was fighting. As the Toad went to jerk the spear back, she let go in order for the Toad to be thrown off balance by his own yank. This was a risk, though, since it would give her assailant his weapon back. Sure enough, the moment she let go of the spear, the Toad stumbled backwards a bit, but not nearly as much as she would have expected and he righted himself quickly. Still, it gave her some room to search for anything that could be used as a weapon. Sure enough, she found a discarded spear lying on the ground and she rushed to grab it before the Toad or elf did. She managed to reach it but soon noticed that she was not the only one going for the weapon; one of the Koopatrols was reaching down for it. Fortunately, Mia reached the spear first and managed to stand upright to face down the Toad.

The Toad rushed her once more and she narrowed her gaze on the Toad as he came at her. Being a human, and taller than the Toad, she had a reach advantage. She was also a martial artist so she knew that she could fight the Toad evenly given his demonstrated fighting ability, which was not all that much. The issue she had was what he really was and what he was wearing, since, if her suspicions were correct, this was no Toad, definitely not an unarmored one.

As the Toad approached, she quickly took stock of the situation. The Toad held his spear out in the charge. This had to be a trap since with her reach advantage, he would be charging to his death. Sure enough, when he was just about to make his thrust, he ducked to his right and prepared his thrust, hoping to outmaneuver her. Unfortunately, for the Toad, Mia had read his movements and intercepted his attack and thrust her own spear out. She caught the Toad right in the chest and the spear bit into the Toad's flesh and went in relatively deep, but far more slowly than Mia would have expected. A look of shock and pain crossed the Toad's face as he dropped his spear. Mia then gave a big twist and withdrew the spear, allowing the Toad to fall to the ground, dead. The moment the Toad fell, though, the image of the Toad disappeared and instead, in its place was a Koopatrol.

As soon as her assailant was dead, Mia turned to Luca, who had already disposed of his attacker and was holding their guns. The moment he saw that she was okay, he lowered the weapons and turned to the Koopas. The Koopas had stood stock still during the entire fight. Once it was over, the Marios noticed Kammy frown a bit.

"Mind explaining this?" Mia growled, pointing down at the two fallen Koopatrols.

Kammy looked down at them and kept her frown. "This is unfortunate."

"Darn right it is," Luca growled in agreement with Mia, who simply glared at Kammy and the other Koopas. He did not need to ask his next question, which Kammy was more than willing to answer on her own.

"Now it looks like we'll have to deal with you the old fashioned way," the Koopa witch said with a shrug.

"So, you were planning on having two of your own disguised minions kill us so you could pin it on the Toads and elves," Mia stated plainly. Both Marios had figured that that was the plan when they noted that the Koopas had not made a move during their fights. "What makes you think that it would have worked?"

"Is that not obvious?" Kammy retorted. "Our disguised minions would have killed you and then we would kill them since they were escaping prisoners. We would let it be known that the elves kidnapped your children with Kamek stumbling across them and rescuing them out of the goodness of his heart. Then we could blame the Yoshis for freeing the stork and allowing it to make its delivery. When Kamek intercepts them and takes them once again, it will look like he is rescuing them from kidnappers. And with you dead, it would become our responsibility to raise your children. And considering that a Toad who was a high-ranking spy from the Mushroom Kingdom was one of the responsible parties for your deaths, it would look to Mario and Luigi that the Mushroom Kingdom and the elves conspired together to kill you and take them away, with us Koopas being their saviors. The only thing we would regret was that we were not fast enough to save you."

"And what are you going to do now?" Luca asked, handing his wife her gun as she went over to stand with him. "Now, if you tell the story you just told us, there is the real risk that it could be exposed as a lie. Even if you kill us now and kill your bodyguard, will you be able to convince everyone of the lie? What if someone learns of the truth? What if there are cameras in this room that have recorded this? What if a clairvoyant magician sees this and knows the truth? Can you risk that?"

"We just might have to," Kammy answered. "As long as you are alive, you are a threat to our plans for your children. You must know by now that the Koopa Kingdom is not a bastion of goodness and light. We will take over the Mushroom Kingdom and eventually the world. That is our legacy, and our right! To make sure that the Mario children assist us in that goal, you have to die." She then turned to the other Koopas present and told them, "Kill the humans. Make sure that nothing remains of them. We may still be able to salvage the situation."

"Yes ma'am," the other Koopas said with bows. The Koopatrols then drew out their spears, along with the Magikoopas drawing out their wands and pointing them at the humans.

"No hard feelings," one of the Magikoopas told the humans as the head of his wand began to glow. "It's just orders."

"That's an excuse that many soldiers following illegal orders from evil regimes used on our world," Luca growled. "It didn't work for them. It won't work for you."

The humans quickly took stock of the situation. Luca knew that he was fast enough to take out at least one of the Magikoopas. If he and Mia focused on the Magikoopas, he could take them down fairly easily but the Koopatrols would likely then join the fight and possibly injure or kill them since they were armed with spears and would move the moment the humans did so, assuming they waited that long; and that was without taking Kammy into consideration. He knew that she was stronger than the generic Magikoopa and would not go down with one shot. Then there was the prospect of reinforcements. They strongly suspected that there was security right outside the door. They would need to neutralize it quickly before it could join Kammy and the others. Mia was already shaking her head and surreptitiously motioning for Luca to stand ready as she reached into her sack. The Koopas did not miss her motion.

"Hold it right there!" one of the Koopatrols commanded.

"Don't move a muscle!" one of the Magikoopas echoed, trying to echo the Koopatrol's toughness, pointing his wand at the human woman.

Kammy then walked over to the humans and examined them. She then focused on Mia and told her, "Put your weapon and sack on the ground."

"Okay," Mia said in a defeated tone. "Just don't do anything rash."

"We won't if you obey her," one of the Magikoopas stated.

Mia then took off her sack and let it plop on the ground right in front of her. She took her gun and placed it on the ground gently with her right hand, keeping her left hand up.

"Open your sack," Kammy commanded.

Mia could barely suppress her grin. It looked as if Kammy was not quite as smart as she and Luca suspected. She then slowly reached down and prepared to open the sack. Her lack of alacrity was beginning to wear on Kammy's patience.

"Hurry up or we'll kill you and your husband now!" she screeched.

Mia gave a sigh as she looked up at Kammy, and then over at her husband, her seeming concern masking her warning that she was about to unleash a Thunder Rage. He then went over to her and huddled close to her. As he did so, Kammy laughed.

"Well, this seems like a fine time to end the humans' lives, as they are in each other's arms." She then raised her wand and held it up in the air for a second as she looked around at her minions. The Magikoopas were already raising their wands and powering their spells. The Koopatrols and Hammer Bros. were also ready, with the spears and hammers in hand. It was then that she lowered her wand and screeched, "Kill them!"

As she was giving the order, though, Mia quickly opened her sack and pulled out a Thunder Rage, raising it high above her head. Before the Magikoopas could fire their spells and the Hammer Bros. and Koopatrols could throw their hammers and spears, lightning rained down on everyone in the room except for the Marios, who were hugging each other closely. The metal armor of the Koopatrols ensured that they never had a chance. They were reduced to ashes with the first of the strikes. The Magikoopas fared no better, being too slow to react and raise any defenses before they were struck by numerous lightning bolts and killed. The Hammer Bros. also met the same fate, their tougher shells and helmets doing little good protecting against the lightning. Of all of the Koopas present, only Kammy managed to survive the barrage of lightning bolts, though it was not without cost. She had managed to raise a shield over herself but had only gotten it up to about fifty percent when the barrage of lightning bolts assaulted her. The lightning immediately took down the shield and the last of the lightning bolts managed to score a direct hit on her. Had she not been as powerful a Magikoopas as she was, she would have died, but her magical defenses had allowed her to survive the assault. However, she did not escape the assault without being paralyzed by the electrical bolts. While the paralysis was only temporary, it would linger for long enough to allow Luca and Mia to escape the room.

The moment the lightning ceased, Luca and Mia stood up immediately. Luca saw Kammy lying on the ground, either paralyzed or dead to his mind, and was tempted to make certain that her fate was final, but he soon heard the door swing open and see two Koopa Troopas armed with blue snowflakes enter. Not wanting to know what those snowflakes did, Luca immediately leveled his laser pistol at the Koopas and fired several shots. Each shot scored a direct hit on the Koopa and felled them, the Koopas falling backwards and dropping the snowflakes.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Luca said, scanning the room to make sure that all of the Koopas were either dead or incapacitated.

He did not have to ask Mia twice. She quickly went around, gathering the spears of the fallen Koopatrols as well as the two snowflakes that had been dropped by the Koopas that had tried to storm the room. When she picked them up, she noticed that they had small, black eyes. She quickly went over to Luca and showed him the snowflakes, asking, "What are these?"

He looked down at them and answered, "I don't know for sure, but they look like some ice attack item." He then looked down at the two snowflakes and thought back to their battle against the Bandits as they had entered the Mushroom Kingdom. "Hey, I think I recognize those things," he said excitedly.

Mia then looked at him quizzically.

"The Bandits used one of these items against us during the battle when we first entered the kingdom," Luca continued. "It generates an ice storm. Perhaps that's what we should call it."

Mia then grinned and handed him the Ice Storms. "You keep them. I've already got the Thunder Rages and you could use some multi-enemy items. You don't want to waste your remaining charge on your laser pistol."

"I've got a ton of charge left on my pistol," Luca answered with a smile meant to calm his wife. "I won't be running out of ammunition very soon."

After that, they took one last look to see if there was anything else worth taking. Seeing nothing, they decided to exit the room before more of the airship's security force came to investigate the situation. Once they exited the door, they each peered down both sides of the corridor. Two Koopa Troopas were patrolling the corridor and quickly caught sight of the humans. Luca whipped out his laser pistol and felled the Koopas with two shots. They quickly turned to their right and made their way down the corridor, carefully stopping at all intersections, scanning their surroundings to make sure that there were no roving patrols that would catch them off guard.

As soon as they saw that the way was clear, they sat back for a moment and tried to plan their next course of action. They listened for the engines to hear if the ship had begun to take off yet. While the engines were starting and they could hear the gradual increase in pitch of the whine echoing throughout the corridor, they knew that the ship was not ready to take off just yet. They still had a chance to get off.

Without saying a word, they quickly turned around and retraced their steps back to the location of the boarding ramp to the ship. They suspected that the ramp was either retracted or about to be but if they could act fast enough then perhaps they could extend one back to the castle, which would allow them to escape. As they continued to make their way back towards the boarding area, they ran into a patrol of two Hammer Bros.

Upon sighting the two humans, the Hammer Bros. immediately readied their hammers and tossed them at the humans. The arcing hammers flew towards the humans with surprising speed, but not so fast that they could not be dodged. The humans stepped out of the way of the hammers, which clattered on the ground several feet away, bouncing along the floor before eventually coming to a stop. That did not stop the Hammer Bros. from producing more hammers, each one holding two hammers, one of which looked to be a close combat weapon for the Koopas. Seeing that the Hammer Bros. would be difficult to defeat in close combat, Luca decided to dispatch them with a couple of laser blasts. A couple shots from his laser pistol were more than sufficient to put down the two Bros.

They continued down the corridor, scanning the walls for any signs of security cameras. Anything they though was a camera was immediately shot by Luca. They suspected that it would not be too long before the Koopas knew that something was wrong but if they could keep the Koopas in the dark for even a few minutes, it would give them the time they needed to get off the airship and hopefully get back to the cruise ship. The only problem would be dealing with the airship, for they did not doubt that the airship would not care about destroying a cruise ship just to kill them.

Eventually, they found the boarding area. The ramp was being retracted and the ship was about to take off. The Marios stormed into the area, punching one of the Koopa Troopas, forcing him back into his shell. Luca then kicked the shell towards a line of Koopas that had just boarded and were armed with spears. The Koopas were too slow to react and the shell bowled them over, the Koopas falling like bowling pins and dropping their spears. Luca then ducked a hammer thrown by a Hammer Bro. that had entered the area. A single laser blast later, the Hammer Bro. had fallen.

Meanwhile, two Koopatrols had entered the room from another entry way and when they saw the humans, they turned back to the open door and yelled, "Security, get to the boarding ramp chamber immediately! The humans are here! Get the ship to…" but they were silenced by a thrown spear from Mia and a shot from Luca's laser pistol. However, their warning had not gone unnoticed, for the humans heard the footfalls of many Koopas headed their way.

"What now?" Mia asked nervously. "We won't be able to hold off all of them without using our items."

Luca looked around and saw several crates lining the room. "We may not have to," Luca answered, heading over to one of the crates. "Here, help me out," he told his wife as he pulled out a wrench from his tool belt. He put the wrench into a crack in the crate and did its best to use it as a crowbar to pry the crate open while Mia shut the doors to try to buy them some time. After a few pulls, he was eventually able to open the crate. After pulling away the covering, he found several what looked to be black bombs with eyes, legs and small winders on their backs. They did not look to be active, but he was hesitant to touch any of them for a bit.

Mia came over and peered into the crate and saw the strange-looking bombs, asking, "What are those?"

"I don't know," her husband answered. "Let's hope they useful in helping us get out of here." They then heard some knocking at one of the doors and he then took two of the bombs and put them in his pocket. He then handed two of them to his wife. They lifted them and found that while they were small, they were heavier than they looked, almost as if they were like cannonballs.

He quickly drew his laser pistol as he saw splinters falling from one of the doors. It soon burst open and a Sledge Bro. smashed his way through. The Sledge Bro. was quickly put down by a laser blast from Luca's laser pistol while Mia could see several Koopatrols, Hammer Bros., and Sledge Bros. off in the distance. She figured that this was the best time to use one of these new bombs. She turned the winders only a little bit since she figured that the more it was wound, the longer it would take to detonate. She tossed it through the door and immediately fled away from the door, hugging the wall.

She could hear one of the Koopas yell, "It's a Bob-omb, run!" just before the loud detonation of the bomb. Smoke soon leaked through the door and she then peered into the corridor and saw the charred remains of the Koopas and the wreckage from the explosion. She stared at the damage for a moment and figured that she would need several more of these new bombs since they would be instrumental in getting them out of the airship and possibly even taking it down should it attack them after they escape.

Luca then took a few more Bob-ombs and made sure that the other exits were closed and locked. He wanted to keep security away from the ramp for as long as possible. When they felt as if everything was secure, they went to the controls for the boarding ramp to try to figure out how to open the door and extend the ramp. It was surprisingly easy, for the controls were clearly labeled, in English no less. Going over to the control that said, _Boarding ramp access_, he pushed the blue button. Immediately, a clank sounded and there was a crack in the armored wall. Light filtered in for a second as the wall began to rise. A rush of air flooded into the ship as the walls continued to rise, revealing that the ship had not yet taken off. However, that changed as the ship shook and they saw the scene of the castle tower beginning to sink, indicating that the airship was rising.

Immediately, a high-pitched alarm klaxon sounded and the Marios hairs were put on end. The Koopas must have discovered that they were missing and/or found Kammy Koopa. They did not have much time now. They had to get off the ship now or they would be killed. And they knew that the Koopas would not take any chances with them this time.

While the wall was rising, Mia immediately went over to a lever that was labeled _Boarding ramp control_. She pushed it forward, suspecting that that would extend the ramp. The moment she pushed the lever forward, there was a clanking sound and the whine of gears echoed throughout the room as a section of the floor opened up and a long ramp began to rise. The ramp slowly rose until it was a couple of inches high. It then moved forward towards the wall.

As the ramp was moving towards the exit, the Marios heard a series of metallic thuds echoing from behind. The thuds were quickly followed by a series of voices yelling incoherently. The Koopas were coming. Soon, a much louder and more solid thud was heard. Looking over at one of the doors, they saw that it was now dented. Another thud caused the dent to become more pronounced. The door was not going to hold for long. They looked back at the ramp and saw that it was still extending, they knew that they had to do something fast. Mia then went over to the crates that had the Bob-ombs and an idea came to mind.

"Luca, over here," she called, as she went over to the crates.

Luca followed her but was skeptical. "Mia, those Bob-ombs aren't going to last forever and if the Koopas make it through before we get off, then they won't do much good."

"I'm not planning to use them against the Koopas directly," she told him with a sly smile. "We're going to detonate these Bob-ombs right here."

Luca's eyes went wide with mirth as he realized what his wife was planning. They had seen the explosive power of Bob-ombs earlier. If they could get the entire crate of Bob-ombs to detonate all at once, then they could inflict significant damage to this section of the ship. And considering the fact that an engine was nearby, there was the chance of damaging it and possibly even taking it out of the sky. Even if they did not destroy the engine, it would give the Koopas a lot more to worry about than two humans.

"Wind up the Bob-ombs as tightly as possible. We'll need all the time we can get if this is going to work," Mia directed.

Luca nodded and took a Bob-omb and wound it up as tightly as it would go. The fuse on the small bomb immediately lit and it began to walk around as a ticking sound was heard. Luca did this again, and again, and again. He made certain that each Bob-omb did not run into another for fear that if they collided, they would detonate prematurely. Mia did the same with her own Bob-ombs. They placed them in corners and away from each other, save for the last batch. Those, Mia kept in the crate. She also made certain to place some Bob-ombs near other crates, in case the crates were storing gunpowder or other explosives. Lastly, the humans took all of their own Bob-ombs and wound them up. They then went to the doors that did not have Koopas just behind it and they tossed their Bob-ombs through the doors, hoping that their detonations would inflict additional damage to the airship.

Once the Bob-ombs had been put in place, the duo quickly made their way to one of the safety stations. There, they found several parachutes and life preservers. They took two parachutes and strapped them on, more than a little concerned since they did not have time to check to see if the chutes were in working order.

Just as they got their chutes on, one of the doors was blown off its hinges, the metal sheet falling down and making a thunderous clang. Koopa Troopas and Hammer Bros. stormed through, scanning the area for Luca and Mia. Luca quickly drew his laser pistol and immediately opened fire on the Koopas, felling two of them right off the bat before the rest managed to find cover. A couple of Hammer Bros. tossed some hammers towards the Marios but their aim was off and they came nowhere close to hitting the humans. This gave the humans the chance to flee the airship. They stepped out onto the boarding ramp and rushed off of the ship. The fact that the Koopas did not have any more advanced weaponry with them stopped them from being a real threat to the humans at the moment.

As the humans made it to the edge of the ramp, they looked down and saw that the airship was a ways away from the castle but still over land. Looking back, they saw several Koopas rising from their cover and coming forward. Seeing that they had little choice, as well as knowing that the Bob-ombs were about to go off, they jumped off the ramp. They fell through the air for less than a second before they both opened their parachutes, the chutes opening wide and slowing their fall so that they would land unharmed. Controlling their descent, they managed to guide themselves to an open area within visual distance of the castle. That would make it easier for them to find the trail that led back to Yoshi Village, which would make it easier for them to backtrack to the waiting _S.S. Seasprite_.

Meanwhile, back onboard the airship, the Koopas that made it to the ramp could only watch as the humans managed to escape the ship. Some of the Koopas could hear the soft, whining sound of a Magikoopa's broomstick. Turning around, they saw a Magikoopa floating before them. The Magikoopa was scowling at the scene.

"It looks as if the humans have escaped, sir," one of the Hammer Bros. reported.

His scowl only deepened. "Well get down there and find them," he ordered. "Kammy wants them dead as quickly as possible while she recovers and heads back to King Morton to make her report.

"Yes sir," the Hammer Bro. answered.

The Magikoopa then turned around to tell the captain to turn the ship back towards the island when he heard a ringing sound and a Koopa Troopa look over and his eyes go wide.

"Sir, we've got a problem!" he cried in terror.

"What is it?" the Magikoopa queried.

"All of the Bob-ombs in this room have been lit!" came the desperate answer. "I can't tell how much time is left."

The Magikoopa's face went blank for a second before he promptly activated the wand and screeched, "Everyone who can fly or teleport, get off this ship! Now!"

It was the last order the Magikoopa ever gave, for the moment he screamed "now", the first of the Bob-ombs detonated in the crate. The first Bob-omb's detonation was quickly followed by a second, then a third, and then a fourth. Within a few seconds, all of the Bob-ombs in the crate had detonated in a massive chain reaction, the first few Bob-omb explosions detonating the rest. The ship's boarding ramps were completely destroyed and had fallen out of the ship and to the ground. The entire boarding area was reduced to flames and rubble. Anyone that had still been inside the room was now dead. Smoke and flame issued from the shattered windows and the new makeshift windows created by the explosions. Debris fell from the ship as the ship began to list to the side. Still, the ship appeared to be able to fly, despite the damage. That quickly changed.

A few seconds after the first series of Bob-ombs detonated, a second series of explosions rang out from inside the ship. The explosions blew out several windows, which promptly belched out smoke and flame. These explosions were more critical to the ship, though, since one of the Bob-omb detonations had managed to blow off a rotor, the still spinning rotor falling and slicing into the airship's hull. Another explosion had inflicted even more catastrophic damage by detonating near a powder magazine on the ship's port. The cannons on the side were either outright destroyed or damaged so badly that they were no longer operable. The subsequent explosions managed to blow a massive hole into the ship and set one of the decks on fire. These explosions caused several flamethrowers to be destroyed or set the fuel for the flames on fire, causing even more damage. Koopas, some of them on fire, flung themselves out the now open windows and hull breaches. In addition, a rocket engine had been destroyed and inadvertently blew flames onto the hull of the ship, incinerating some more Koopas on the ship's main deck, before shutting down. Still, despite the damage that the ship had sustained, the ship still remained aloft. How long it would remain so, however, was a different story.

Onboard the ship, Kammy had managed to recover from her paralysis and was doing her best to reach the boarding area when the first series of detonations had started. The ship shook with the first series of detonations, forcing her to mount her broomstick. Almost immediately, the door several meters away from her had been blown out and sent flying towards her. She erected a shield over herself to stop the door, which collided with her shield but did not collapse it. It was fortunate that her shield held, for the door was followed by a massive blast of flame, which washed over her shield. While the shield was able to hold back the flames, the heat was still too intense and Kammy was forced to retreat.

When she was a safe distance away, she activated her wand and screeched into it, "Captain, what the heck just happened?"

"Mistress, there has been a series of explosions in the…" but the communication was cut off by a second series of explosions.

The ship shook with each explosion, which made the corridor seem to list as Kammy was still sitting on top of her broomstick and thus, unaffected by the ship's listing. Seeing that remaining below the main deck was becoming a much more precarious option, she quickly rocketed towards the nearest stairwell and took it to the main deck of the ship.

When she arrived on the ship's main deck, she quickly took stock of the situation. The officers on the main deck were busy barking orders to the non-commissioned personnel and putting out fires. One of the flamethrowers must have accidentally sprayed fire on the deck. The servants and lowest ranking members of Kammy's forces were scurrying about the deck, carrying out orders and making their reports to their superior officers. So far, the main deck did not seem to have taken as much damage as she had feared and the main rotors on the mast had not suffered damage at all. However, the flames from the flamethrower had taken the lives of several of the troops on deck and others had been injured due to the ship's lurching. She looked for the captain among the casualties but did not find him. She breathed a partial sigh of relief. It was not as bad as it could have been, yet. While she doubted that the ship would be able to make it back to the Koopa Kingdom or even to a scouting outpost, they could hopefully land it back at the castle and effect emergency repairs. And if nothing else, they could try to find the humans and kill them. The humans should not be too hard to find since they would be headed towards the cruise ship that would be departing not too long from now. Still, that would be dependant on the damage the ship had already suffered. Still, if they could get back to the castle, she could have the survivors hunt down the humans and kill them. And if nothing else, they would also be able to get revenge on the Yoshis by destroying their village.

Focusing her thoughts on ascertaining the situation at hand, she scanned the deck for the airship's captain. She spotted the captain, a Koopatrol with a rare pistol in a holster and a rifle slung over his back, gripping the ship's wheel, trying to keep it from turning and allowing the ship to list even further.

Kammy rushed over to him and inquired, "What is the situation, Captain?"

"We've suffered severe hull damage," the captain answered. "The boarding area has been completely destroyed and there is a massive hole in the hull."

Kammy scowled.

"We've also lost our port broadside battery," the captain added. "All of the cannons are gone, either destroyed or so badly damaged so as to be useless. We've also lost Rocket Engine Number Three and a number of flamethrowers, which have inflicted more damage to the ship."

"Dare I ask if we can make it back to the Koopa Kingdom?"

"I can't see how," the captain answered in a melancholy tone. "We'd need effect significant repairs if we wanted to be able to make it back to the closest Koopa affiliated base."

"Could we make the repairs while in the air?"

The captain shook his head. Kammy scowled once more.

"Could we land the ship in the water and try to sail to the Koopa Kingdom?" Kammy asked.

"Doubtful," came the captain's answer. "The hole is large enough and close enough to the ship's bottom that we would take on water if we attempted to put down in the water."

"What about patching the hole?" Kammy suggested.

"We don't have the materials to patch the hole," the captain answered. "Our best option is to go back to the castle and attempt to dock there. At the very least the Magikoopas onboard could bring us the materials needed to form a patch so we could set down and effect repairs."

"Very well," Kammy said, nodding slowly. "However, first, there is something else that needs to be dealt with."

"What is that?"

"The humans and the Yoshis," Kammy answered in a sinister tone. She then went over to the side and looked down at the island below to see if she could spot the humans. So far, though, she was unable to do so. She then turned to the captain and told him, "Try and find the humans. It is imperative that they are destroyed. Their deaths are the most important mission for us right now, even more so than the survival of this vessel."

"Understood," the captain answered. He then went up to the wheel and called out over the deck yelling, "Everyone, get back to your stations. Ready all radar stations. Scan for the humans or anything that moves. Identify it and bring any guns we have left to bear on it."

"Yes, sir," the crew on the deck responded.

"Once that's done, tell the gun crews to get ready. We don't want to blow this."

"Understood."

Kammy then watched the crew get to work and she gave an evil smile. Even though the humans had escaped the ship, they had not eluded her yet. She was very eager to finish off the threat that they posed once and for all.

Meanwhile, down on the island, the humans were running through the forest doing their best to backtrack back towards the cruise ship so that they could get back to the Mushroom Kingdom and continue the search for their children. The path that they took led them to a beach that was still a ways away from the cruise ship but that was not their main concern at the moment. As they were running, they could hear the rotors of the Koopas' airship above them. Turning around, they saw the damaged and smoking Koopa airship pursuing them. They saw a cannon protruding from the bow of the ship and they knew that the ship would be a dangerous opponent. They continued to flee the ship, hoping that they could reach the _S.S. Seasprite_ before they were slaughtered by the airship without leading it to Yoshi Village.

Back on the ship, the captain reported to Kammy, saying, "Mistress, we have found the humans. They took a trail that led to the beach. We have them in our sights."

She looked over at the weapons officer as he bellowed orders through a phone. "Forward gun, target the humans down below and destroy them."

She could hear the affirmation of the orders as the gears of the main bow cannon whined as it adjusted its angle. She could barely wait as the ship drew closer and closer to its target.

Back down on the beach, Luca and Mia looked up and saw that they would never be able to evade the cannon. Scanning their surroundings, they quickly saw that there was no hope of escape. The forest would not provide any cover and there was no way that they could outrun the ship. Their only option was to fight. Fortunately, they figured that they had the perfect items with which they could do so. Mia fished inside her sack and drew out a Thunder Rage. She knew that the ship was still pretty far, but if the Thunder Rage could lash out at everyone on the deck, as well as at those massive rotors, then she figured that the already stricken ship would fall.

She stared up at the ship and readied the Thunder Rage, holding it high above her head. Releasing the lightning bolt, it floated up into the air and then disappeared for a few moments. After those moments, lightning began to rain down upon the airship and the Koopas on the main deck.

Onboard the ship, Kammy's eyes went wide as lightning began to rain down upon the ship from a cloudless sky. She barely managed to raise her shield in time to intercept the lightning bolts that were coming her way, her shield glowing with each hit. She fared far better than the others on the main deck, though, for the lightning fried every Koopa onboard the main deck, the metallic armor of the Koopatrols acting as a conductor for the lightning, and the Hammer Bros. not being able to withstand the lightning bolts. Worse than the damage done to the crew, though, was the fact that the lightning scored direct hits on the rotors. Electricity arced between the rotors and two of the three rotors immediately began to slow their rotation until they came to a stop, the lightning shorting out the generators that supplied power to the rotors. As the rotors began to slow and stop, the ship began to list towards the ocean and lurch forward. There was nothing that could be done to save the ship.

Kammy knew that it was time to abandon ship. Apparently she was not the only one to do so, for several Magikoopas were already fleeing the ship, some of them carrying Koopatrols. In addition to the Magikoopas, a few Hammer Bros. were riding flying blocks in order to flee the doomed ship, each of them carrying some Koopatrols. At least the losses would not be total. Still, there were only a dozen survivors, counting herself. This loss would still be devastating and she would not hear the end of it from either Morton or Kamek.

As soon as she was clear from the falling ship, she took a look down at the beach and saw the humans fleeing into the forest. For a fleeting moment, she considered pursuing the humans and ordering her remaining forces to join in the pursuit. However, eventually she decided that it would be foolish to do so. She did not know how many Thunder Rages, or other weapons, the humans had left. And she knew that they had gotten back their guns, which would make them very dangerous even if she survived the next Thunder Rage. Still, she could not go back to Morton and Kamek empty handed. The humans were as much a threat to the Koopas right now as their children would be in the future. More importantly, if the humans died, then they could be free to raise the children to be Koopa warriors. As such, she threw caution to the wind and raised her wand, firing a blast of magic into the air. The blast continued to rise until it exploded in a dazzling flash of light that got the attention of the fleeing Koopas. They turned at once to the source of the light and saw Kammy mounted on her broomstick, her wand held high.

"Koopas of the Koopa Kingdom, assemble!" she cried out in a loud voice. "There is a dangerous enemy on the island that must still be eliminated. They have likely expended numerous resources to take down the ship. Furthermore, we must avenge all of our comrades that were lost in the destruction of the ship."

At the mention of avenging the ship's crew and the fallen soldiers, the Koopas all gave loud cries of support. "Forward!" Kammy cried. "The humans aren't far away. We must strike now before they have a chance to recover!"

Then, as one, the force of Koopas all followed Kammy as she rushed back to the island to search for the Marios so she could put an end to their threat once and for all, ignoring the final demise of the airship. This time, though, the Magikoopas were not taking any chances. As they followed Kammy, they drew their wands and cast defensive spells on themselves, wanting to make sure that a single Thunder Rage would not be sufficient to take out the entire force.

As for the airship, it continued its doomed descent. The Thunder Rage had inflicted more damage than initially believed, for now there was a series of explosions that blew apart the primary rotor on the main mast. The pieces of metal rained down onto the airship and onto the island as the ship was now spilling out equipment and flaming crew. It eventually crashed into the ocean, where it made a huge splash that served to extinguish several of the fires, but also provided a medium for the electricity to travel through and fry most of the remaining crew. Some of the Koopa crew members that managed to survive jumped from the sinking ship and swam to shore. They strongly suspected that Kammy would not return anytime soon, so they decided to strike out on their own. Before making their way back to the now abandoned castle, they took one last look at the now sinking airship as it sunk beneath the waves, and sending the remaining crew to a watery grave.

As for the Marios, they watched the ship crash into the water and sink with grim satisfaction. With the ship gone, the main threat to them was gone, as was a threat to the Yoshi Village. A part of them hoped to meet the Yoshi again so that they could thank him for his help. As for right now, though, they were satisfied with getting out of the ordeal alive and unharmed. They then peeled their eyes away from the wreck and Luca took a look at his watch to see how long they still had. The watch read five o'clock P.M. They only had an hour to reach the ship before it left the island.

"We have to hurry," he warned Mia. "It's already five o'clock and I don't think the ship will be waiting for us if we don't make it in time."

Mia nodded in agreement. Then, with no further discussion, the Marios rushed through the woods and made their way back to the ship.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Luca and Mia rushed through the forest, following the trail back to the _S.S. Seasprite_ as quickly as they could. As they made their way through the forest, though, they constantly glanced back to see if the Koopas were pursuing them. The last thing they wanted was to be caught off guard by a squad of Koopatrols or Hammer Bros. So far, though, they seemed to be free and clear. As such, they continued on their trek back to the ship, stopping only to catch their breath and take a drink of water.

Not too long into their trek, they heard the familiar sound of a magical broomstick off in the distance and they came to a screeching halt. They then threw themselves into the dense jungle brush in order to avoid detection by whoever had found them. They peered through the openings and found a Magikoopa ride over the scene. They suppressed a curse as they realized that the fighting was not over yet. Mia quickly went to check on her inventory and found that she only had three Thunder Rages left. Looking over at Luca, she held up three fingers, signifying her remaining Thunder Rages. That would be well and good if the Koopas did not have any defenses up and if they were all bunched together. If they were more spread out and simply used their aerial mobility to fire from range, though, then this could become a long running battle. Still, they were low enough to the ground that they could crawl along it for a while and hopefully avoid detection.

As they began to crawl along the ground, they heard strange sounds coming from above. Turning to look up, they saw the Magikoopas casting magical spells onto rocks, trees, and other formations, as if they were trying to flush them out. The duo smiled and continued to crawl, as quickly as possible, even standing up a bit to increase their speed. As they continued to move, they quickly spotted several Hammer Bros. sitting on gray blocks with small wings that kept them aloft hovering above the scene. They looked down but did not spot the humans, nor were they joining in the attempt to flush out the humans by tossing hammers down into the jungle. They suspected that the Hammer Bros. must not have wanted to give the humans any extra ammunition. Still, there was something strange about what was going on. The Hammer Bros. and Koopatrols that were with them seemed to be waiting for something rather than actually searching for the humans. What did they know that the Marios did not?

Their questions were answered when a gray spike Koopa shell came as if from nowhere and rocketed straight towards them. The shell struck Mia in the leg and she gave a loud cry as she felt the bones in her leg break.

"Watch out!" she managed to cry out in warning despite the pain.

Luca barely managed to avoid his attacker, diving out of the way of the shell and drawing his laser pistol. The shell stopped a few meters away and the Koopatrol quickly emerged from it wielding a spear. He quickly noticed, though, that this Koopatrol looked a little different from the others that he had seen. This one had a blank look on its face, as if it was little more than a robot following its programming. Luca quickly put it down as he shot it with a laser blast. Three more shells came for Mia, one of them hitting her in the chest, the crack of her ribs echoing through the forest as she suppressed a cry while the other two stopped, the Koopatrols coming back out, armed with spears. They were quickly joined by a Hammer Bro. who jumped down from above, tossing a hammer at Luca, forcing the human to deal with him, rather than with the Koopatrols attacking his wife. The hammer struck his gun hand, knocking the gun out of his hand and possibly breaking it as pain shot through his arm. Looking back at the Hammer Bro., he noticed the same blank look on its face that he did the Koopatrol.

As for Mia, she was in bad shape with her broken leg and ribs, along with the spikes having managed to pierce the flesh on her chest. She knew that if she did not do something quickly, infection could set in. Seeing that she would not last long in this condition, and that her husband was having troubles of his own, she drew out a Thunder Rage and placed it above her head as the Koopatrols came at her. As soon as she let go of the lightning bolt, lightning began to rain down upon the Koopatrols and the Hammer Bro. The Koopas did not stand a chance against the rain of lightning. Each one was struck by a powerful lightning bolt that fried them to a crisp. As the Koopas died, though, the humans noticed that none of them had looks of pain or shock on their faces. In fact, none of them even tried to evade the lightning; they just kept coming at the Marios. After a few seconds, the lightning rain was complete and the Koopas were all reduced to ashes and dust.

With this group of Koopas having been dealt with, Mia took the time to get out a Super Shroom and eat it. The moment she ate the mushroom, she heard her ribs and the bones in her leg knit. She also saw the wounds on her chest close. The pain immediately vanished as she was completely healed, though still a little tired from the fighting. She then got out a Tasty Tonic and drank it to cure herself of any potential infection that may have entered her body while she had been wounded. Once she was healed, she quickly rose and gave her husband a Super Shroom for his hand. Luca accepted the mushroom and ate it quickly. The pain in his hand promptly vanished and he felt as good as new. He felt more refreshed than Mia since he had not suffered nearly as much injury as she had.

"Come on," Mia told him, helping him up. "We have to make a run for it. There's no use hiding anymore. They must have found us by now."

Luca agreed and did followed Mia closely, each of them keeping a close eye on their surroundings to make sure that they were not ambushed by any more Koopas. Sure enough, their suppositions were not wrong.

Looking down upon the forest from high above, Kammy and the Hammer Bros. stared down at the forest as the other Magikoopas were using their spells to transform rocks and tree branches into zombie-like Koopa Troopas, Hammer Bros. and even Koopatrols. These Koopas were like robots, being programmed to serve Kammy and her forces. Since they lacked minds and souls, and thus, did not have any ingenuity, they were easier to defeat in combat than real Koopas. However, they made up for their lack of ingenuity with numbers and the driving force of the Magikoopas' will that would not deter them. And best of all, they were not truly living Koopas so they were easily expendable.

Not too far away, lightning rained down upon the forest, burning trees and leaves and likely striking several of their newly created Koopas. Kammy grinned as she saw the lightning rain down on the expendable for lack of a better term, zombie Koopas. She had known that the Koopas would be able to travel faster in the forest if they tucked into their shells and plowed ahead. This would force the humans to use their items to fight them off, thus revealing their location while also forcing them to expend more of their essential weapons and healing items. She had no issues sacrificing these expendable zombie Koopas if it meant killing the humans and possibly the Yoshis in the village. She would avenge Kamek's greatest defeat, as well as the loss of the airship on her watch. If the humans and Yoshis were dead, she could explain the other losses to Morton and Kamek. If they survived, though, then she would be in trouble. Still, she knew that she still had the edge. She watched as the Magikoopas created more zombie Koopas, this time merely being Koopa Troopas.

As soon as a new force was created, she raised her wand and pointed it in the direction of the lightning and cried, "Forward!"

The zombie Koopas obeyed and immediately tucked into their shells. Their shells then spun around and they soon rocketed after the humans. As they did so, Kammy looked on, knowing that she eventually, she and the others would wear down the humans through simple force of numbers. Now, all she had to do was wait until the humans were either dead, or had expended all of their weaponry and would be vulnerable to attack by her non-expendable forces.

Back on the ground, Luca and Mia continued to make their way through the forest and get back to the main trail that would take them back to the _S.S Seasprite_ as fast as they could. They knew that the Thunder Rage's lightning barrage would light up their location to anyone who was looking for them so they wanted to be as far away from that location as possible when the enemy arrived to check out the area. While they made their way through the jungle and the brush, they constantly glanced around their surroundings for any signs of Koopas or other enemies such as Piranha Plants and Bandits. They also kept their ears open, knowing that the brush could possibly conceal any approaching Koopa. Luca kept his laser pistol at the ready but even he was beginning to grow concerned. He knew that he was expending the battery of the weapon and soon, he would have to take as much care about conserving ammunition as Mia was with her own weapon.

"Any sign of them?" Luca called back to his wife as they continued on the path.

Mia glanced around and watched and also listened for any sign of pursuit. "So far, no," she answered.

That gave Luca no comfort. Mia's expression showed that she echoed her husband's sentiments. The last batch of Koopatrols and Hammer Bros. really concerned them since they could tell that there was something wrong with them. For a moment, they wondered if they had suffered from an illness of some sort. The island's tropical climate meant that more microbes could have lived in the various animals and plants and if they had come into contact with any of them, then they could have gotten infected. Still, that seemed a little farfetched for them. Besides, it was not so much that they moved more slowly, it was that they did not really think about how to attack them. The Koopas seemed to be acting on instinct alone, almost as if their minds and souls had been missing. Suddenly, a thought came to them.

"Luca, we may have a big problem here," Mia began with a tone of concern.

"Just one?"

"This one's big," she answered, her voice trailing off. "I'm worried that the Koopa magicians are transforming items and objects into a zombie Koopa army to hunt us down. That's the only explanation I can think of for the strange behavior of the Koopas and the fact that they did not seem to feel any pain as the Thunder Rage rained lightning down on them."

Luca considered his wife's theory and he frowned, not because he believed it was stupid, just the opposite. He was concerned that she was, indeed, correct. "If that's the case, then we will have a long running battle on our hands unless we chase down those Magikoopas and force an engagement with them right now."

Mia nodded apprehensively. They both knew that that was what Kammy and the survivors of the airship wanted the most. They had exhausted a number of their supplies in the fights onboard the airship and would almost certainly exhaust remaining Thunder Rages in a battle against them right now. Checking their inventory, they saw that they only had two Thunder Rages left and two Ice Storms. They were also down to three Super Shrooms, so they knew that they would have to be careful in the next battle and conserve their items.

The next battle took place sooner than the Marios expected when they heard a rustling from the bushes not too far behind them. The rustling got louder and louder and eventually, Luca got the idea to fire off a couple of shots from his laser pistol off into the distance. The laser shots burned through the leafy brush and likely hit at least one of their attackers, for at least six yellow Koopa shells came spinning towards them. There was an opening in the center of the line, though, and Luca quickly found that opening, with Mia crowding in right behind, allowing the Koopas to sail by.

Once they had gone by, Luca took quick aim with his laser pistol and each Koopa once. Each blast was sufficient to destroy a Koopa, even though they were tucked inside their shells at the time. With this wave of Koopas having been destroyed, Luca grabbed Mia's wrist and pulled her along, exclaiming, "Time to go."

Mia heartily agreed and reached into her sack, grabbing one of the two remaining Thunder Rages, knowing that they would soon be needed. As they continued down the game trail, they quickly came upon the main trail that would lead them back to the ship. However, they recognized a stone that they had seen and realized that the trail would take them to Yoshi Village. The last thing they wanted was to lead the Koopas to Yoshi Village, but they knew that they would have little choice if they wanted to either get through this battle or get to the ship in time.

As they continued, they saw several more Koopa shells whiz past them. Unlike the other shells, though, these did not stop and turn to engage them when they made their way past them. Instead, they simply continued down the trail. Soon, two more Koopa shells spun past them. Then another couple made their way past, and another couple. Suddenly, the Marios realized what was going on. They were not the only targets of the Koopas. Remembering what the green Yoshi had told them and how the Yoshis had rescued the babies from Kamek, they realized that the Koopas were also planning on getting revenge on the Yoshis by attacking their village. Without the airship to destroy the village from the air, it would fall to the vast hordes of zombie Koopas to overwhelm the Yoshis.

The Marios then picked up their pace so they could reach the Yoshi Village and help the Yoshis, assuming that the village was, indeed, the destination of the other Koopas. More than just helping the Yoshis, their joining the Yoshis would allow them to present a united front against the Koopas and hopefully allow them to defeat the Koopas.

Meanwhile, Kammy was hovering above the forest, watching the humans head over to the Yoshi Village. She grinned at the sight. "Excellent," she stated in a sinister tone. "They're heading to the Yoshi Village. Soon, we'll have them."

She then prepared to order her Magikoopas and the Hammer Bros. forward when the jewel on her wand suddenly lit up. She scowled. Someone was trying to contact her. She sighed and swished her wand in the air to activate it. Suddenly the face of Kamek appeared in the jewel, surprising Kammy.

"Kamek, what is it? I was not expecting you to contact me. Is something wrong?" she asked nervously. It was not like Kamek to make unannounced calls like this.

"Not really," Kamek answered. "I just called to inform you that I have captured one of the babies once again. I'm taking him to Egg Island since that's the place Prince Bowser has chosen to be his new vacation home. How is everything going with you?"

This was it. She could not dare lie to Kamek, yet it was on her watch that an airship was destroyed with nearly all hands. Not only that, but the Mario babies' parents were still alive and while she had them on the run, their deaths were far from assured.

"Kammy, are you okay? What's wrong?" Kamek asked, his expression darkening.

"I'm alive, but things are looking bleak."

"What about the parents?" Kamek interrupted. "Are they dead yet?"

"Not yet," Kammy sighed in resignation.

She could hear Kamek give a growling sigh. "Well do it soon. Then bring the airship to Egg Island. I'll need as many soldiers as possible if I'm to find the older baby while watching over Bowser, too."

"That may be a problem," Kammy began nervously.

Kamek's eyes narrowed as he glared at her. "Why's that?"

Kammy sighed before answering, "Because the airship has been destroyed."

"What?" Kamek blurted in shock. "How?"

"The humans made an escape and damaged the airship in the process. They detonated our supply of mini-Bob-ombs and used a Thunder Rage to destroy the main rotor."

"Is the airship salvageable?"

Kammy shook her head. "The airship crashed into the ocean. The initial explosions tore a hole large enough that it could not land on the ocean without taking in water. It has since sunk."

She could hear Kamek's disapproving growl. "This won't go over well with Morton," he stated plainly. Kammy knew that, of course. And chances were that Kamek and the others would blame her for the loss of the airship. "What is the status of the humans at the moment?"

"The survivors and I have spotted them in the jungles of the island," Kammy answered. "They are headed towards Yoshi's Island as we speak. The surviving Magikoopas have already created an army of zombie Koopas to kill them as well as destroy the Yoshi Village. We will at least avenge your loss at their hands."

"You'd better," Kamek warned. "If this operation ends with us losing an airship and us having the very real possibility of having to face the humans as well, then we'll be in a lot of trouble."

What was not said but implied by his expression was that Kamek would most certainly throw Kammy under the bus in order to ensure that he was not killed. She knew that Kamek had his own goals and that these setbacks were hurting them. As such, she decided that it would be best to just make sure that the humans at the very least were killed, and if the Yoshis were killed as well, all the better. "Will there be anything else, Lord Kamek?" the female Magikoopa asked.

"Just make sure that the Mario parents die," were Kamek's only orders.

"I will," Kammy answered just before Kamek shut off the signal.

Once the wand went dark, Kammy sighed once more, but not of real relief. She was not doomed yet but if she failed to kill the Mario parents, she would be in severe trouble. Now her only goal was the death of the Marios. She quickly turned back to the others and yelled, "All forces fall in."

The Magikoopas fell in line, along with the Hammer Bros. and the remaining Koopatrols on their flying blocks. "We attack the humans now!" Kammy commanded, pointing her wand forward. "Send in all of the zombie Koopas that you have made. The only goal is the death of the humans. Any Yoshis that die will merely be icing on the cake."

"Yes ma'am," the others answered in unison. Then, as one, the force of Koopas surged forward towards the Yoshi Village in the hopes of intercepting Luca and Mia.

Meanwhile, the husband and wife duo were having their own problems stemming the tide of zombie Koopas spinning towards Yoshi Village. Luca continuously shot as many zombie Koopas as he could, constantly checking on the battery level of his pistol. So far, it was not running too low, but it was getting precariously close to only being at half charge. He knew that if the tide of faux Koopas did not stop, he would soon start having to conserve ammunition just as Mia was. Still, there seemed to be no end in sight for the flood of Koopas that were coming towards them and Yoshi Village.

Seeing that they had little chance of stemming the tide here, the Marios quickly began running along the trail towards Yoshi Village, hoping to reach the village before it was overrun. As they continued to travel, they glanced back and saw several Hammer Bros. riding flying blocks along with a couple of Magikoopas above them raining down bolts of magic in the form of geometric shapes. Once a bolt of magic struck a rock, the rock immediately transformed into a Koopa Troopa, a spiky rock-like creature that jumped into the air and slowly made its way towards the village called a Thwimp, a Monty Mole, or even an enemy that resembled a small brown mushroom called a Goomba. Each of these enemies had the same blank looks that the Koopas did, so the Marios knew that the only thing on their mind would be their death and the destruction of Yoshi Village.

They followed the trail until it came to Yoshi Village. Once they arrived at the outskirts of the village, they could already hear the sounds of fighting inside the village. Looking back, they saw more zombie Koopas flooding towards the village. Seeing the vast number of Koopas surging towards the entrance, as well as listening to the sounds of fighting coming from within the village, they knew that they had to do something fast. If these reinforcements arrived, the Yoshis would be overwhelmed. The Marios knew what they had to do.

Mia pulled out one of her two remaining Thunder Rages and held it above her head. Letting it go, it floated above her and then vanished. After vanishing, a stream of lightning bolts rained down upon the zombie Koopas that were surging towards the village. The Koopas were instantly destroyed and reduced to ashes and what looked to be charred skeletons. Each Koopa that surged into the area of the Thunder Rage's effect was instantly destroyed as if they had run right into an electric perimeter. Looking into the village, they saw that some of the electric rain had struck enemies inside the village. They also noticed that the sounds of fighting were lessening and after a few more seconds, they had stopped.

With the Koopas having been destroyed, the Marios made their way to check on the situation. Inside, they saw a group of about a dozen Yoshis huddled close together, eggs bouncing at their sides. They looked to be in pretty ragged condition but they did not seem to be too seriously hurt. Many of them were panting, though, indicating that they were becoming fatigued. The Marios soon noticed the green Yoshi standing out in front with six eggs trailing him. He seemed to be fresher than the others. He was likely more experienced in fighting than they were. Seeing the humans, the green Yoshi went over to them and asked, "Was that you?" They guessed that he was talking about the Thunder Rage that must have cleared out more Koopas than they had anticipated.

The humans nodded.

"Thank you," Yoshi told them, bowing. "We owe you a great deal."

"We're not out of the woods yet. There were more Koopas coming," Luca told them. "We managed to take care of that wave, but I don't know how many more are going to attack."

"Then let me answer your question," cackled the familiar voice of Kammy from above. The humans and Yoshis turned to face her and they saw that she was being flanked by four Magikoopas. Behind her were three Hammer Bros. standing on floating blocks. Standing next to the Bros. on the blocks were Koopatrols. There were four Koopatrols in total, the lead block holding two of them, for a total of twelve enemies. The Magikoopas then rained down more magical bolts on debris inside the village, creating more Koopas, as well as a couple of Koopatrols. The Koopatrols then jumped down from their blocks, deftly landing on the ground. Each of the normal Koopatrols was armed with a spear and they held it out, pointing them towards the humans and Yoshis.

"What are you going to do now?" Kammy cackled. "You're outnumbered and almost certainly running low on supplies. If I remember correctly, you only have one Thunder Rage left, but it won't kill us all and you'll still have to deal with me and my Magikoopas. So what now?"

The Marios gritted their teeth. How had Kammy learned of the number of Thunder Rages that they had carried? Surely if she had known that they were armed with such items to begin with, they would have had their sacks confiscated before being taken onboard the airship. They soon figured that Kammy must have used some form of telepathy or magical scan to ascertain their arsenal. They stopped thinking about their arsenal at that moment and merely focused on protecting the Yoshis and hoping to get out of this fight alive. Huddling in close to the Yoshis, they told them, "Stay together."

As the other Koopas began their approach, the Hammer Bros. and Kammy floated up a bit and backed off. It was clear that they were using the others as shields and sponges for the attacks that the humans and Yoshis would unleash. All they had to do was wait for the Marios and Yoshis to exhaust their ammunition and then they could strike with impunity.

Sure enough, the Marios did just what they had expected. When the Koopas surged towards them, it was clear that they greatly outnumbered the Marios and Yoshis. Taking out her last Thunder Rage, Mia held it above her head and released it. The bolt of lightning promptly vanished and soon, a storm of lightning rained down upon the Koopas, and only the Koopas. None of the lightning bolts came anywhere close to striking the Yoshis or the ground close to them where they could still feel the effects of the electricity. As before, the Koopas were instantly fried to a crisp, the metal armor of the Koopatrols being more of a liability than an asset as they were easy targets for the lightning. After the storm was over, all of the Koopas in that wave had been destroyed, leaving only Kammy, her Magikoopas, the Hammer Bros., and another wave of Koopas that had been created below them during the lightning storm.

"That's it. I'm out," Mia alerted Luca.

Luca glanced back over to her and nodded. He did not want Kammy to scan them to ascertain what else they may have on them besides their normal weapons, but he also wanted her to know that she should not be too worried yet. As for Kammy, all she did was cackle.

"Now's the time," she cried, pointing her wand down at the group. "Go!"

The Koopas did as she bade. While the Koopas surged forward to attack, along with the Hammer Bros. to provide air support, Kammy and the Magikoopas stayed back to provide cover from outside of attack range. The last thing they wanted was to get smacked by a Yoshi egg.

The fighting began when the lead Green Yoshi targeted a Hammer Bro. on one of the flying blocks. The egg was launched by the Yoshi and rocketed towards the Hammer Bro. before he could respond with a toss of a hammer or an evasive maneuver. The egg struck him in the head and knocked him off the block, where he fell to the ground, either dead or dying. The fall made his final fate certain as the crack of bones could be heard as he landed headfirst.

The other Yoshis quickly joined the fight as they launched a volley of eggs on the ground enemies. The zombie Koopas struck by the eggs were quickly defeated, most of them either dying of falling to the ground unconscious and having suffered severe injury. Luca and Mia also joined in the fighting, Luca shooting the onrushing Koopas with his laser pistol while Mia grabbed any hammers from the Hammer Bros. that landed close to her, either tossing them into the fray or back up at the Hammer Bros. She even managed to fell one Hammer Bro. that had tossed a hammer down at her with his own hammer. The remaining Hammer Bro.'s eyes went wide at the sight of his comrade being taken down and, after ducking an egg thrown at him by a Yoshi, decided that discretion was the better part of valor and retreated out of range of the Yoshis' attacks.

Meanwhile, the Marios and Yoshis continued to fight off the wave of undead Koopas surging towards them. With the remaining normal Hammer Bro. staying away from the fighting, the Magikoopas began transforming the remaining stones and debris into stronger enemies such as Koopatrols and Hammer Bros. However, this posed another problem since the Yoshis could use their tongues to grab the Hammer Bros.'s hammers and spit them back at them. Many zombie Hammer Bros. fell to the Yoshis in this way. Many more also fell to the volley of fire unleashed on them by Luca, as well as the hammer volley that Mia was hurling their way, for their hammers were littering the ground, giving the humans more and more ammunition. In fact, when Luca saw that his charge was beginning to get a little low, he decided to conserve his ammunition, putting away his laser pistol and grabbing some more hammers to toss at the onrushing opponents.

Despite the courageous fight, though, the group was still outnumbered by the onrushing enemy Koopa force, though with the dwindling amount of debris, the Magikoopas were having a hard time finding resources for creating more zombie Koopas. This gave the humans and Yoshis hope and they decided to press their advantage by taking some potshots at the Magikoopas. The lead green Yoshi drew a bead on the closest of the Magikoopas and launched an egg his way. The Magikoopa was too distracted trying to draw a bead on Luca and Mia that he missed the egg coming at him until it was too late. When he did notice the egg, he tried to go evasive but he failed and the egg merely struck him in the head, knocking him off his broom and down to the ground over thirty feet below, ending his illustrious career. That left only three Magikoopas, not counting Kammy.

The others saw this and realized that they were not far enough away to avoid being hit by the Yoshis' eggs. They also began to worry about the potential for Luca to draw out his laser pistol once more and go right after them directly. As such, they retreated even further away from the fighting. They also examined the scene and saw that they had run out of debris for creating zombie Koopas. That meant that the final wave that was crashing into the humans and Koopas would be the last. Kammy saw this too and grimaced. She did not like the very real prospect that she could fail to wipe out the village. However, she knew that it was a possibility so she decided that her best course of action would be to try and accomplish her primary objective. After all, she had already lost so much that if she failed to kill the humans, she could potentially be executed for gross incompetence. As such, she decided that her best bet would be to focus solely on the humans. Everything else was secondary.

She then raised her wand and cried, "The humans, focus on the humans!"

The others turned to her and nodded. The Magikoopas and surviving Hammer Bro. then formed a line in front of her and they rained down bolts of magic onto the positions occupied by the humans while they continued to fight off wave after wave of zombie Koopas. The geometrically shaped bolts of magic left their wand and traveled down towards the humans. However, the relatively slow travel of the bolts allowed the Marios to easily evade them while they focused on dealing with more zombie Koopas, a volley of hammers taking down several more Koopas, destroying them.

Kammy and the Magikoopas grimaced, but that only served to mask their concern. The last thing they wanted to do was to get closer to the Marios and Yoshis and risk getting tagged either by a hammer or an egg. Still, they knew that they were useless where they were and that the group below was tearing through the final waves of zombie Koopas. Even those that were getting close were getting devoured and either spit back out as volleys of fireballs that incinerated lines of Koopas, or were being turned into eggs that were being launched against other Koopas or even them.

In the end, they realized that they had to risk it and get closer if they were going to kill the humans. While none of them had the intimate knowledge of what the children of the humans could become if raised by their parents, the last thing they wanted Kamek to have to worry about was having the parents come after their children. As such, they got closer and began raining down bolts of magic onto the humans and even some Yoshis. One Yoshi had just swallowed a zombie Koopa with a red shell and was looking up as he spit it out in the form of three fireballs with eyes. This forced the Magikoopas to raise shields over themselves in order to protect themselves from the attack. While the fireballs failed to hurt the Magikoopas, they did collapse the shield and give the humans an opening to launch an attack of their own, one which Luca was quick to take advantage of.

Luca, seeing the fireballs collapse the Magikoopas' shield, tool out one of his two Ice Storms. Holding the blue snowflake in front of him, he then let it go, where it disappeared. Kammy saw this out of the corner of her eye and realized what was coming, huddling inside her robes. The others, however, had not been as observant, having to dodge or intercept a volley of eggs coming their way. The magical bolts managed to shoot down the eggs, transforming them into more zombie Koopas, but that did the Magikoopas and Kammy little good as suddenly, a gust of icy wind came their way, accompanied by snowflakes.

Kammy quickly retreated behind the line of Magikoopas, using them as shields so that she would not take the brunt of the damage. The icy winds buffeted the Magikoopas and the accompanying icy snowflakes froze two of the Magikoopas solid. The frozen Magikoopas promptly fell out of the sky where they hit the ground and shattered. One of the other remaining Magikoopas was not frozen but had sustained fatal damage from the attack and fell. The Hammer Bro., however, was not killed but the floating block had been frozen and it fell from the sky, bringing the Hammer Bro. with it. It struck the ground but did not shatter, though the impact was enough to stun the Hammer Bro., who was finished off when a shell came rushing towards him, barreling into it, knocking him aside. As for Kammy, she was not fatally injured, nor was she frozen solid, but she did suffer damage and was shivering inside her robes. She was almost certain that she had caught a cold. However, the Ice Storm did not just take out the Magikoopas and Hammer Bro. It also did far more devastating damage to the zombie Koopas.

On the ground, the effects of the Ice Storm were even more deadly, though that was mainly due to the fact that the Koopas on the ground were weaker than the Koopas in the air. However, it had still done its job as the Ice Storm had unleashed a blizzard upon the zombie Koopas. The zombie Koopas, not having any real intelligence, simply kept rushing towards the humans and right into the blizzard of ice and snow. This resulted in them being frozen rock solid, with most being shattered when one of the Yoshis tossed an egg at the massive ice block, shattering it. The few remaining zombie Koopas were quickly dispatched by a volley of hammers and eggs launched by the humans and Yoshis. After a few seconds, the only survivor was Kammy, who now had to face two humans and a dozen Yoshis.

In the sky, Kammy noticed that she was beginning to drift lower and lower, as she was still feeling the effects of the Ice Storm. She was thankful that she had managed to avoid the worst of it, even if it cost her her Magikoopa escort. Once she felt as if she could emerge from her robes, she did so, just to see the massive ice block be shattered by a Yoshi egg, along with most of the remaining zombie Koopas.

After witnessing the rest of the zombie Koopas get dispatched with contemptuous ease, she realized that things were looking bleak. She now had two options: one, attempt to fight the humans and hope that she managed to kill them before being killed by the Yoshis. Studying them, she found that to be an unlikely outcome, for while the humans were looking winded and looked to have a few bruises from the fighting, they were far from dead and she was currently on her last legs and nowhere close to full strength. And that was before taking into account the Yoshis defending them. No, there was no way that she would be able to take down the humans at this point. The other option she had was to flee and make her report to Morton. This was by far the better option. Without any other survivors to contradict her story, she could make up a story that painted her in the best light despite the losses sustained. There were still issues with this, particularly if Morton decided to scan her while she gave her story. Besides, she would also have to report to Kamek, if for no other reason than to let him know what would soon be coming his way. She greatly preferred that option. As such, she wasted no time rising into the air and rocketing off into the distance. Still, she could no resist getting in one last statement.

"Mark my words, I will have my revenge one day!" she screeched as she fled. The Marios and Yoshis made no retort as she retreated out of sight and fled the island. They merely sat back and took a moment to relax.

With the battle over, Luca and Mia quickly took stock of their situation once more. They went over to a bench to rest, each of them grunting as they slowly sat down, the aches and pains of the fighting beginning to make themselves known. The couple then took out a couple of Super Shrooms and ate them. The moment they did so, a wave of refreshment washed over them and they felt as good as new. They then stood up and checked the time. They still had a half hour left so they knew that they still had a chance to make it to the boat.

As they were preparing to leave, the green Yoshi and a few others came over to them and stood before them, smiling. He then handed the humans two package of cookies and said, "We thank you for helping us against the Koopas. Take this as a small gift of our thanks."

The humans accepted the packages but then told the Yoshis, "It's we who should be thanking you. Without you, we never would have defeated the Kammy and her minions."

The Yoshis were a little confused at first but still smiled. "If there's anything we can do for you, tell us. At least let us have a feast in your honor," the green Yoshi offered.

"We'd love to stay but we have to continue the search for our children," Mia explained, giving a wistful smile. "To do so we have to get back to the cruise ship at the harbor before six o'clock. Even if we leave now, there's no guarantee that we'll make it back in time."

The green Yoshi looked over at a red Yoshi and they both nodded and smiled before turning back to the humans and telling them, "Hop on." They then turned to their sides, revealing their saddles and lowering themselves so the humans could mount them. "We could definitely get you back to your ship in plenty of time."

The Marios went over to the two Yoshis and Luca mounted the green Yoshi while Mia mounted the red one. Once they were on the Yoshis, the Yoshis told the Marios, "Hold on." The Marios nodded and gripped the reins as the Yoshis sped off into the forest, following the trail that would lead them back to the ship.

The trek through the forest was free of any real incident. A few Bandits and Dayzees came out of the jungle to try to accost the humans and Yoshis, but they were quickly eaten by the Yoshis and transformed into eggs. Other than that, no other enemies dared to attack the humans and Yoshis.

After a while, the group eventually made it back to the docks. The Marios could see the _S.S. Seasprite_ off in the distance and they examined it. It looked as if passengers were still boarding. Checking the time, they saw that they still had a few minutes to spare. They told the Yoshis, "That's our ship."

The Yoshis stopped and let them down. The humans dismounted the dinosaurs and before heading over to the ship, they turned back to the Yoshis and told them, "Thank you for everything you've done, both for us and for our children. If there's any way we can repay you, please tell us."

"You already did when you took down that airship and helped us fight that Magikoopa crone," the green Yoshi answered.

The red Yoshi nodded in agreement. "Good luck finding your children," they wished as they waved to the humans.

"Thank you," the Marios answered, waving back. The Yoshis then made their way back to their village while the Marios made their way over to the _Seasprite_.

As they neared the ship, they heard a Toad shout from the ship, "All aboard?"

This was bad. Checking his watch, Luca saw that they still had a few minutes to spare. Their thoughts began to turn a little darker as they began to worry that the ship was actively trying to leave them behind.

"Wait!" Luca called to the ship.

The Toad at the bottom of the ramp heard Luca's cry and saw the two humans rushing towards the ship. He turned back to the captain at the top of the ramp and bellowed, "Wait, sir, we've got two more."

The captain looked out over the railing of the ship and saw the two humans running as fast as they could to reach the ship. The captain gave them a sigh and activated a hand radio, saying, "Hold up. We've got two more coming in. But be ready. I want to leave the moment they're onboard."

A chorus of affirmatives greeted the captain as he waited for the humans to come. As they arrived, he eyed them suspiciously. He had heard rumors that they were wanted by King Lactarius but he did not exactly know why he wanted the humans so badly, assuming that the rumors were true. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into a feud or any political games. However, he also did not want to bring any danger to the ship, either. Still, since the humans had arrived in time, he decided that it was best to let them onboard without contest.

As for the Marios, once they approached the boarding ramp, they presented their tickets to the Toad at the bottom of the ramp. The Toad came forward and examined the tickets. Seeing that they were legitimate, and checking the passenger manifest, and seeing that their names and faces matched those on the manifest, he said, "Welcome onboard the _S.S. Seasprite_. We're heading directly back to Toad Town. Your room is Number 204. Please enjoy your stay. We should arrive back in Toad Town in a few hours."

The Marios thanked the Toad and proceeded to board the ship and make their way to their room. Once they entered the room, they made their way into the bedroom and plopped down on the bed, wanting to sleep for at least a few hours. Despite the Super Shrooms having healed them of their bumps and bruises, they were still exhausted from the fighting and felt that a good night's sleep was just what they needed. As they went to sleep, they did not hear the ship's horn as it signaled that it was departing Yoshi's Island and heading back to Toad Town.

Meanwhile, in the command cabin, the ship's captain looked over some sheets while listening to the news in the background. There, he heard mention of two humans, a male and female, who were wanted for questioning in connection with the kidnapping of two babies. When he heard this, he remembered a news report from earlier in the day where there was the suspicion that two humans were searching for some babies. Remembering the two humans that boarded the ship at the last minute, the captain got up and went over to the phone. He then picked up the receiver and dialed the emergency number. After a few rings someone picked up and he heard a voice say, "This is the Toad Guard Response Line, who is this and how may we be of assistance?"

"This is Captain Toadshroom of the _S.S. Seasprite_," the captain began. "I heard that you were looking for a human couple in connection with the kidnapping of two babies. Well, I think I've spotted them."

"The babies or the humans?" the voice asked.

"The humans," the captain answered.

"Thank you. When will you be arriving?"

"At approximately twelve midnight," the captain answered. "We're hurrying back as quickly and safely as possible."

"We'll be ready for them," the voice answered.

The captain then hung up the phone and went back to work, no one the wiser of what was about to happen in Toad Town.

The rest of the journey back to Toad Town passed without incident for the Marios. They awoke at around eleven at night and glanced outside the window, looking at the stars in the sky. They knew that it would not be long before they arrived back in Toad Town so they then each took showers, got dressed, and went up on deck to wait for the ship to arrive back in Toad Town.

After about forty-five minutes, the Toad Town docks were within sight. As they caught sight of the docks, their hearts skipped a beat in anticipation. They would finally be able to continue the search for their children. They quickly discussed their next course of action among themselves and came to the conclusion that the first place they would visit would be Merlon. He had led them to Yoshi's Island, which had been a place where the babies had been, so he would likely know where the final destination of the babies would be. They had already concluded that they would not likely be able to get the babies in transit. They would have to intercept them at their final destination.

After a few more minutes, the boat eventually pulled into the docks. Since it was midnight, the place looked to be barren save for the Club 64. They could see the silhouettes of people in the bar partying and drinking. There were a few pedestrians in the streets but other than that, the streets looked to be quiet…a little too quiet for somewhere so close to a bar. Something clicked in the back of their minds and they were suddenly on edge. Mia fingered the Dizzy Dials in her sack as Luca did the same with his Ice Storm.

"I don't like this," he said ominously.

Mia nodded in agreement. While they had felt as if Toad Town was safe, they did not put it past the Koopas to try an ambush, especially since the Toads did not look to have all that strong a military. They had a feeling that once they got off the boat, that they would have to be on their guard and that a fight would likely follow.

Once the boat came to a stop, the boarding ramps extended down to the docks. There were a few Toads standing on the docks, likely family members of some of the passengers. However, since they were arriving in the middle of the night, there were few passengers that were disembarking. They proceeded to make their way down the ramp, passing a Toad security guard as they disembarked. The Toad guard nodded towards them as they departed the ship.

Once they were off the ship, they quickly headed into the streets and made their way past Club 64 as quickly as possible. While they did not expect there to be any trouble from any patrons, they did not want to take any chances. As they made their way past the club, they spotted two Toad guards standing near the item shop.

The two guards approached the Marios and stopped before them, making certain not to present their spears. As they stood before the humans, they asked, "Are you Luca Mario and Mia Mario?"

The humans nodded.

The Toad guards gave a disconcerting grin. "King Lactarius wishes for you to see him immediately."

"Why?" the Marios asked in unison.

"He says that he has found your children, or at least their final destination. Come with us. We'll take you to see him."

The Marios glanced at each other skeptically. This seemed a little too convenient for their liking. Still, this was also an opportunity and they would not get another one. Time was of the essence and they were quickly running out of it. As such, they felt as if they had no real choice but to follow the guards. As such, they followed the Toad guards as they led them through Toad Town.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Luca and Mia followed the Toads through Toad Town. As they made their way through the deserted streets, they could not help but feel suspicious about the Toads' arrival. It was as if they knew exactly when they were going to arrive. While it was not unlikely that the Toads knew when the cruise ship would arrive at port, there was the question as to how they knew that the Marios were going to be disembarking from that ship. As far as they knew, Lactarius had not known that they were going to Yoshi's Island. As such, they were uneasy as they followed the Toad guards.

As they continued to follow the Toad guards through the town, they constantly studied their surroundings. Most of the houses and businesses were completely dark. That was no unexpected since it was past midnight. They also listened to the Toads as they made conversation amongst themselves. They were mostly talking about how the Koopa Kingdom was becoming more aggressive and annexing several of its smaller neighboring kingdoms and some islands. The humans suspected that Yoshi's Island was one such island they were planning on annexing. They only hoped that the destruction of the airship and of Kammy's forces convinced the Koopas that taking Yoshi's Island would be too much trouble. Besides, they strongly suspected that if they were somehow unable to return to Earth, they would need to use the island as a safe haven for their children.

Not too long into the conversation, the Toads changed the subject. They glanced back at the humans and one of them made obvious glances at Mia, prompting her to frown. They also soon heard the Toad comment, "Man, now I know why Lactarius eyed her so much during the banquet."

"Yeah," the other Toad agreed. "But don't forget that she's married and she's likely at least a decent fighter to boot."

With that statement, both Toads shuddered, which put the two humans on edge. Something was about to happen and Luca fingered one of the Dizzy Dials in his sack. As they continued down the road, they thought they could see shapes moving in the shadows of the buildings. At first, they did not bring it to the attention of the Toads since they were nervously glancing around at their surroundings too. However, the humans were still on edge. Remembering the Shy Guy that had stolen a jewel and money from the bank and how they were thieves, the Marios did not put it past the Shy Guys to unite into a group and accost lone travelers. While they doubted that the Shy Guys would accost a group like their own, they did not put it past them if they were being paid. And since Shy Guys were known to be in the Koopas' employ at least on Yoshi's Island, they were concerned that the same could be the case here.

After turning to go north into the town, the Marios noticed more shapes lurking in the shadows. Turning to the Toads, they saw them casually strolling along and conversing with each other.

"Hey, slow down," Luca cautioned quietly.

"Hmm? What is it?" one of the Toads asked, a bead of sweat forming on his brow.

"For the last few blocks, I've noticed some shapes in the shadows of the buildings. I think we're being followed."

"Followed?" the second Toad asked nervously, a little too loud for the Marios' liking.

Luca nodded as he gave an annoyed frown. This would alert whoever was following them to be more cautious. The Toads then glanced at their surroundings and saw nothing obvious. As such, they told the Marios, "We see nothing."

The Marios studied their surroundings once more and it appeared at first as if the shapes had, indeed, vanished and the Toads were right. However, out of the corner of her eye, Mia caught sight of another shape. This one looked nothing like a Shy Guy, though.

"They're still there," Mia alerted the Toads, pointing to the shadows.

The Toads nervously studied the shadows and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw nothing. They turned back to Mia and told her, "You need to calm down. There's no one there."

Mia only scowled and suppressed a growl. Luca looked into his wife's eyes and knew that she had seen something. He was also beginning to grow suspicious of the Toads, for they were casting their gazes back and forth towards the shadows, even those where no shapes had been seen. They did not seem to be looking for potential enemies, though, but for any signs of activity and when they saw none, they looked visibly relieved. They then looked back at the Marios with what looked to be suspicion, something that the humans were quick to notice.

After walking up the street a bit, they made their way past Tace T.'s house and turned to the right. Now, the Marios were beginning to grow even more concerned.

"Hey, this isn't the direction of the castle," Luca told the guards.

"We're not taking you to the castle," the guards answered. "Lactarius has a secret meeting place when he's concerned about people spying on him. We're taking you there."

That gave the humans no comfort. Luca continued to finger the Dizzy Dial in his sack. The last thing he wanted was to have to enter another battle but he began to realize that he may have had little choice. If nothing else, Lactarius may let him know where his children were headed.

Eventually, the Toads stopped and turned back to the humans, saying, "Turn right here."

Looking around, the humans saw nothing but a tree. The Toads went over to the tree and struck it with their spears. The moment they did so, a green pipe sprouted from the ground. "Follow us," they directed, motioning for the humans to come after them.

The Toads then jumped into the pipe, followed by the Marios. The group rode the pipe down beneath the ground and emerged in a bright room with yellow and brown tiled walls. There were two more green pipes in front of them. To their right was a counter but no one was occupying it at the moment. The ground looked and felt as if it were made of dirt but that did not concern them.

After walking forward a few steps, a door opened on the other side of the room. The humans stopped and out came King Lactarius, flanked by four Toad guards. These guards wore different uniforms than the others, though. They had gray capes and were armed with what looked to be muskets, with swords at their sides and spears slung over their backs. Lactarius also looked to be armed, for he carried a magic wand disturbingly similar to the one that Kammy had wielded back on Yoshi's Island. He also had a sword strapped to his waist.

"Welcome to my underground hideout," Lactarius proclaimed to the Marios. He then gave a wink to Mia. "I hope that this is not too inconvenient a place for us to meet. I heard about the incidents on Yoshi's Island and suspected that you two were involved in them in some way."

The Marios nodded in confirmation.

"I knew it," Lactarius said smugly. "Well, my spies in the Koopa Kingdom report that the incident on Yoshi's Island has given them no end of trouble. However, you're not out of luck. Your children were rescued by the Yoshis of Egg Island and they are headed towards their new parents' home as we speak."

Mia almost lunged forward a few steps, unable to contain her anticipation. "Where is it so we can get our children back?"

"It is in the mountains west of Toad Town," Lactarius answered knowingly. "Unfortunately, you won't be going there anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" Luca blurted, though he dreaded the answer.

"We're sorry about this," the Toad guards that had escorted the Marios down to the hideout said wistfully as they went over to the counter and pushed a series of buttons.

Just then, rows of bars rose up from the ground around the Marios, encasing them in what could only be described as jail cell. Luca gripped the bars and tried to pry them apart so a space could open that could allow him and Mia to escape.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you out just yet," Lactarius said to the Marios with a suspicious grin.

"What's the meaning of this?" Mia demanded, glaring at the Mushroom King.

"That should be obvious," Lactarius answered haughtily. "Your children are to be the saviors of the Mushroom Kingdom. They will be raised to be the heroes that will fight for us against our enemies. You know as well as I do that it's only a matter of time until the Koopa Kingdom invades the Mushroom Kingdom. You've also seen our army. We're no match for a kingdom like the Koopa Kingdom. In order to survive we need to have heroes. That's what your children will be for us."

That only prompted the humans to smirk. "What's so funny," the Mushroom King asked, cocking his eyebrows.

"The Koopas told us the exact same thing," Luca answered coldly. "They used that line of reasoning to justify killing us so that we wouldn't raise our children to be heroes and fight the Koopas despite the fact that we would have been ready to raise them to be allies of the Koopas or at the very least allow them to make up their own mind. However, they tried to kill us so we'll just tell our children about that little event when they grow up."

"We could have done the same with you," Mia interjected. "We could have told our children how you were the ones who helped us find them in their time of need. You could have been their heroes so that when you were in trouble, they would not hesitate to come to your aid. However, instead, you have betrayed us and wish to do nothing except use our children and raise them to be your slaves."

"That's not true!" Lactarius blurted. "Your children would by no means be slaves. They would be as free as any other citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"And how free is that?" Luca challenged.

"More than you think," Lactarius retorted. "Anyway, I have to go. My spies are making the last touches to the plan. The adoptive parents are being given their final instructions. I must go and see to it that they are given all the guidance they need. As for the two of you: you will remain here for a few days. You will be treated well and will eventually be released once the children are safely away from the prying eyes of the Koopas."

Lactarius then proceeded to make his way towards the warp pipe, walking around the prison that had been erected around the Marios. As he began to walk, four Toads formed up around him, quickly being joined by the two Toads that had led the Marios into this trap. Lactarius gave one last smile towards Mia and said, "I really wish this could have gone differently. You would have been a good concubine."

Mia merely growled as Lactarius went to turn and walk towards the pipe. Following Lactarius was his entourage. However, as each of the guards passed them, the final Toad guard stopped and produced a pink parasol that reminded the Marios of the parasol that the Koopatrols had used to impersonate a Toad and elf respectively. The guard, who now resembled Mia, soon made his way up to the king.

"Watch out!" Mia called to Lactarius in warning, hoping that he could intercept his attacker in time and see that she and Luca were not enemies.

However, before he could turn to the sound of her voice, a hole was blasted into his chest by a magic wand that the false Mia revealed.

"Watch out, the woman's escaped!" one of the Toad guards cried, seeing Lactarius go down.

"She killed the king!" another screamed as he gripped his musket.

The false Mia quickly turned on the guards that were armed with muskets, who were far too slowly for their own good turning towards the traitor. One of the guards was felled by blasts of magic and transformed into a zombie Koopatrol before he could even raise his weapon. A second managed to raise his weapon before being killed and transformed into a zombie Koopatrol. The third managed to level his musket at the false Mia but the false image of the human quickly grabbed the barrel and pushed it away as it fired, unleashing a slug into a wall a few meters away. The Toad then suffered the same fate as his comrades. As for the two escorts, they were a little faster, but still no match for the false human, who moved more surprisingly like Mia would have in a fight. The Toad guards thrust their spears towards the false human but he dodged them and quickly destroyed them by blasting them with more magic, transforming them into zombie Koopatrols.

Once the skirmish had ended, the false Mia looked down at Lactarius and said, "What a pathetic idiot," as condescendingly as possible. He then cast his gaze up towards the Marios.

Despite the fact that their assailants were now dead, the Marios suspected that something was not right about this Toad, especially since he had taken the form of Mia. "Not that we're ungrateful for your help, we owe you our lives, but who are you?" Luca asked.

The false Mia then grinned and the image of the human woman spun around rapidly before vanishing into a series of magical sparkles before being replaced by a Magikoopa. The Magikoopa grinned at the humans, who scowled back. "You're with Kammy," Mia seethed.

"Actually, she's with me," the Magikoopa corrected. "In fact, I'm in charge of the entire Magikoopa legion of the Koopa Troop. I am Kamek. We spoke over the wand yesterday. Now it comes down to it. Kammy failed to get rid of you. I won't."

"And why's that?" Luca retorted.

"Because I have you at my mercy here," Kamek answered haughtily. "With Lactarius having been killed by me after taking on your wife's form, everyone will think that you killed the Mushroom King. I'll portray a wounded guard and show off the pictures, after deleting any of the incriminating evidence. You won't be able to go anywhere up there once they find the king down here dead. And with the Mushroom Kingdom searching for you if you somehow do survive our little encounter, you'll never be able to find your children."

"And where are our babies now?" Mia asked with a contemptuous grin, knowing that something was going on since Kamek was obsessed with getting their children and he was here, rather than in the Koopa Kingdom with their children.

"Unfortunately, a group of Yoshis managed to free your children on Egg Island and they are headed for their new home as we speak," Kamek answered with a shrug. "Fortunately, Lactarius had managed to find a foster home for the babies," the Magikoopa added. "I'll just go over there, kill the foster parents, and then take the children with me myself with no Yoshis to interfere with my plans."

"Don't forget about us," Luca said with a menacing grin.

"I'm not too worried about two humans," Kamek shrugged. "You must have spent all of your weapons fighting off Kammy on Yoshi's Island. If you had not, you would have used any number of items to escape your confines already. As it is, you haven't, so you likely don't have anything that can be of use against me."

The Marios could only grin as Kamek's wand began to glow. He then raised it high and proceeded to point it in between once of the spaces between the bars. That was when Luca drew out a Dizzy Dial and placed it on the ground in front of him. For Kamek and the zombie Koopatrols, the world began to spin faster and faster and they began to get vertigo. They began stumbling and staggering in all directions. Kamek's magical blast shot forth from his wand and struck one of the bars, instantly disintegrating it. He had not been playing around. He had intended to annihilate them. Still, the Marios could only grin. Kamek then fired another blast of magic, and another, constantly trying to target his enemies. In the process, he destroyed one of his zombie Koopatrols, reducing it to ashes. As for the other blasts, a few hit more bars, allowing the humans enough space to escape their prison, with the other sailing wide of their mark.

Once there was an opening large enough for the Marios to get through, they rushed towards it, Luca drawing his laser pistol and Mia drawing her gun. The two remaining Koopatrols and Kamek managed to regain their senses and formed up close to them but they were undeterred. Luca fired a series of laser blasts at the zombie Koopatrols and Kamek. The Magikoopa had managed to erect a shield over his body in time to intercept the blasts, each blast causing his shield to flare, but the zombie Koopatrols had no such defense. They were instantly cut down by the laser blasts and the way quickly opened.

Kamek's defenses held strong against Luca's assault. Each blast splashed against his shield harmlessly.

"You'll have to do better than that," he mocked as he summoned a broomstick and mounted it.

As Kamek ascended into the air to rain down more magic upon the duo, Mia took aim with her gun and told Luca, "Cover your ears."

Luca did so as Mia fired. Her slug, a forty-five hollow-point round, rocketed from her pistol's barrel and streaked towards Kamek. It struck Kamek's shield, which stood firm against the assault, but they both noticed that the shield began to buckle. Apparently, it was designed primarily for use against energy and magic, with relatively minimal physical protection. Luca then raised his laser pistol and fired some more into Kamek's shield.

Again, Kamek's shield intercepted his fire. However, this time, Mia added her own fire to her husband's. She got off another couple of shots on Kamek, each one striking his shield, causing it to buckle further. Now, his shield was showing signs of strain, enough that even the laser pistol was beginning to pierce it.

Kamek raised his physical and magical defenses in order to survive the volley. Sure enough, his shield soon collapsed and two laser blasts managed to strike him in the chest, which was fortunately covered with his magically enhanced robes. The blasts merely singed the robes but he did not want to test their durability against a physical weapon like a gun. Mia did not give him much of a choice as she raised her gun at him and fired. The bullet struck Kamek squarely in the chest, the force of the impact causing him to lose his grip on the broomstick. He began to wobble and he clenched his legs tight, trying to keep himself from falling off the stick. A second shot from Mia struck him, injuring his ribs further and he was unable to maintain his hold on the stick. His legs loosened and he fell to the floor and landing on his head, the impact stunning him. He struggled to rise, managing to unsteadily stand on his own two feet, only to fall once more, dropping his wand and parasol, his vision becoming blurry. He glanced towards a light and quickly looked away. His awareness was lessened due to the hit on the head but he was lucid enough to realize that he was suffering from a concussion. Had he not enhanced his defenses and his robes against all forms of attack earlier, or if Mia had used armor-piercing rounds, he would have died. As it was, though, he was still alive, though in no condition to continue the fight. His broomstick slowly floated to the floor not too far away.

The humans rushed over and kicked both away from him, not wanting him to be able to summon them. Luca then shot the wand for good measure, the laser blast striking the crystal head, cracking but not destroying it. He then went over to the wand, drawing a wrench from his tool belt and smashing the head with a single blow. As the crystal head shattered, sparks of golden energy were released, prompting the human to retreat from the remains of the wand head, not wanting any magic to wash over him.

Meanwhile, Mia went over to the parasol and picked it up, holding it in her hands. She came over to Luca and drew out her gun, holding it on Kamek. "You were a fool, Kamek," she growled at the struggling form of Kamek. "You had it all. You could have saved us from Lactarius and we would have been in your debt forever. We would have remembered you as a friend, not an enemy. That would have been passed down to our children."

Kamek was lucid enough to understand her and make a coherent response, for he responded, "You…still don't…get it. You're both good people, which would also be passed down to your children. If they're good, they'll fight us. That is why we needed them."

"What makes you so sure that they would still be evil even if you got them?" Luca asked. "While they could be raised to be evil, there have been occasions where those raised to be evil turn out to be good and rebel against those who tried to raise them to be evil."

Kamek merely laughed. "That's a rarity, even on your world."

Mia scoffed at the Magikoopa. Kamek, however, still smiled. "Still, the damage is done," he told them. "I took your form as I slew the king. You'll be blamed for his murder, and the Toads will want your blood. Even worse is that there is motive for you to kill him, heh heh heh. After all, he imprisoned you so he could get your children and turn them into heroes. You'll soon see just how weak the Toads really are since they'll be relying on your children to save them every time they get into trouble."

Kamek laughed again as he struggled to rise. He looked over at his broken wand and grimaced. He knew that without his wand, he had little power over the humans since his defenses were broken. He put his hand to his brow and felt something wet. Pulling his hand away, he saw that he was bleeding. Looking at the humans, he knew that they were still fresh. He swept his gaze over the dead Koopatrols and grimaced again. Perhaps his plan had a few flaws.

His gaze quickly turned to the counter, where he suspected the controls for the camera were located. Unfortunately, he had not disabled the camera, needing it to incriminate the humans. However, with his defeat, he knew that he would have to edit the video feed in order for his part to not be revealed. That was now impossible as the Marios quickly moved to block his way to the counter, both humans training their weapons on him. The Magikoopa knew that he was in no condition to fight them. He simply sighed, but he still gave a knowing smile.

"It won't end here," he warned. "Even though the recording won't be edited, you'll never escape. The Toads will look for someone to blame for their king's death, and they won't blame me because of my position inside the Koopa Troop. And the last thing the Mushroom Kingdom wants is to give the Koopas any possibility of an excuse to go to war with them."

With that, Kamek glanced over to his broomstick and it began to levitate off the ground. Mia saw the stick rise and rush towards Kamek. When it arrived, Kamek stuck out his hand and managed to grab the speeding stick. Luca went to take aim at the Magikoopa but the stick was too fast. It quickly turned and carried him to the warp pipe and he went on through, and out of the pipe. Rather than give chase, the Marios went over to the counter to make sure that the security systems had managed to record the entire incident so that the Mushroom Kingdom would know the truth about who had really killed Lactarius.

When they went to the counter, they saw the video screen and the old tape that resembled an old Earth VHS tape. They looked at the screen and saw that the system was no longer recording. Luca gritted his teeth. He looked up at the camera and noticed that it had sustained damage. This could be bad, since they were the last ones in this area alive. They quickly found the tape and rewound it a bit. They then pressed 'play' and watched the scene unfold. They saw themselves emerging from the pipe and watched as Lactarius later imprisoned them in the makeshift prison. They then watched Kamek walk past them and use the magic parasol to transform himself into Mia and assassinate Lactarius while the Marios were still in full view of the camera. The recording soon showed the battle between Kamek and the Marios and cut off when a stray magical bolt managed to indirectly hit the camera, causing there to be static. They waited for the video to run to its end and automatically stop before removing it. They needed to take it to Toadsworth and explain the situation.

Just as they removed the tape from the player, the familiar sound of a person exiting a warp pipe echoed throughout the room. Luca reflexively drew his laser pistol and pointed it at the new arrival. When he saw that it was Toadsworth, he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the weapon. As for Toadsworth, when he saw the pistol aimed at his head, his hands instantly shot into the air, showing that he was unarmed, a look of terror crossing his face. When the human lowered his weapon, he relaxed for a second, until he swept his gaze around the room and saw the carnage.

"Thank goodness it's you," Luca began.

Toadsworth continued scanning the room, his mouth agape in horror. "What happened here?"

"Kamek," Mia answered succinctly.

"He did this?" the Toad asked, noticing the dead Koopatrols. He then noticed that one of the fallen was none other than King Lactarius. His eyes went wide and he hurried over to the king, crying, "Lactarius! Lactarius!"

When he arrived, he put his fingers to the Mushroom King's throat, but could feel no pulse. "It's no good," Mia said wistfully, indicating what Toadsworth had already suspected. Lactarius was dead.

"How did it happen?"

"Kamek disguised himself as a Toad guard using some sort of parasol and killed Lactarius and then transformed the others into zombie Koopatrols before trying to kill us. Fortunately, we managed to fight them off," Luca answered.

"Where is Kamek now?"

"We don't know," Mia answered, shaking her head. "We injured him in the fight but he was able to escape before we finished him."

"Do you have evidence that what you said is true?" Toadsworth asked, even though he had a strong feeling that the humans were telling the truth.

The Marios nodded. Luca then showed Toadsworth the tape. "It's all on here," he told him. "We were about to bring the tape to you."

"May I ask how you got down here and why you were here?"

"Lactarius had two of his guards bring us down here to tell us about where our children were headed," Mia answered.

"Then it's a good thing I found you," Toadsworth began. He then looked downcast and continued, "I risk a lot by telling you this, but Lactarius was planning on selling you out."

The humans glanced at each other and frowned before turning back to their friend. "We know," Luca eventually said. "That's why those bars are there. We were imprisoned before Lactarius was killed. It's all on the tape."

"I'll have to get this to the nobles and the Toad Minister," Toadsworth stated. "However, there's more regarding your children. After you went to see Merlon, the king came to me along with an elf and an escort. He was frantically searching for you two, saying that you kidnapped the children. He barely said anything else before rushing to the docks to try to intercept you. Well, anyway, I heard that he had a plan to lead you on a wild goose chase when you were found. He said that your children were being taken to a castle in Gusty Gulch, just beyond the Forever Forest."

"Gusty Gulch?" Mia asked, wondering if it was truly where they were headed or if that was the lie perpetuated by Lactarius.

"It's a dusty area that is inhabited by Boos," Toadsworth explained. "I highly doubt that your children were being taken there. I'm certain that Lactarius said that specifically so that I would relay false information to you, which brings me to my next point. Not long ago, Merlon came to me and said that he needed to see you immediately when you got back to Toad Town. He says that he may have some information regarding your children. If I were you, I'd go see Merlon. He's not on the king's payroll."

The Marios turned to each other and nodded in agreement. Turning to Toadsworth, they thanked him again, saying, "Thank you again. We are truly in your debt."

"No you are not," Toadsworth answered. "If anything, we will be in yours soon enough."

With that, the Marios departed through the warp pipe. Meanwhile, Toadsworth waited for a few minutes until he was certain that they had cleared the area. Once he was sure that they were gone, he went through the warp pipe himself so he could contact the Toad Minister and several Toad guards. Once that was done, he returned to the playroom and cordoned off the scene on the off chance that anyone managed to enter the secret area by mistake.

Meanwhile, above the underground meeting place, Luca and Mia rushed through Toad Town as quickly as they could. They quickly spied a stockade with a single Toad guard occupying it off the beaten path in amongst a small grassy path. They could hear the sounds of snoring, indicating that the Toad guard was asleep.

"Give me the parasol," Luca directed Mia.

"Why?"

"Because with it, I can pass myself off as that Toad guard and if anyone sees you and asks what we're doing, I'll just say that you're my prisoner."

"Why do _I_ have to be the prisoner?" Mia asked.

"Because I don't know if this parasol will disguise your voice," Luca answered. "And since I'm male, and all of the Toad guards we've seen so far are male, it'll be best for me to be the Toad since I can raise the pitch of my voice to mimic some of the higher-pitched Toad voices, though for lower ones, I'll still sound natural."

Mia saw her husband's point and did not argue the issue further. With that, she handed him the parasol and he quietly crept over to the sleeping Toad guard. Luca then opened the parasol and magical sparks emerged from it. They rained down on the sleeping guard and immediately the image of Luca began to spin until it was replaced by the image of the Toad guard.

Luca returned to his wife and smiled. "How do I look?" he asked, raising his voice so that he sounded a bit more like a Toad.

"Fine," the woman answered. "Let's get to Merlon. We're on the clock since Kamek surely had time to come here from wherever he had intercepted the stork a second time."

Luca nodded and he seemingly led Mia away from the area and made his way through the street. Since it was still night, the streets were practically deserted and the houses were mostly dark. There were a few houses that had some lights in the windows still lit but it did not look like anyone was gazing down at them from the windows.

It did not take them long to reach the town square. They quickly spied the robed form of Merlon standing outside his house. When he saw them, he nodded towards them and motioned for them to come over to him, indicating that he knew whom they were. They went over to him and when they arrived, he told them, "Come inside, there is much to discuss and not much time with which to do it."

They obeyed him and ducked inside his home. When they were inside, he told them, "You can remove your disguises now."

Luca then opened the parasol once more and the image of the Toad guard vanished, being replaced by his true form once more. Merlon then went over to the table with his crystal ball and stood by it. "I saw the death of Lactarius and his personal guard at the hands of Kamek," he told them gravely. "It, as well as the circumstances surrounding it, will be scandalous to say the least. None of them should fall back on you, but you still must act quickly. Those who want the babies will be making their last play for them before they fall out of their reach forever."

"Do you know where our children are being taken?" Mia asked.

"Not precisely, but I do have a ballpark estimate," Merlon answered. "They are not being taken to Gusty Gulch as has been suggested to you before. In fact, Toadsworth and I have been spreading that false information around to throw anyone else who wants the babies off your trail. The true location of where your babies are headed is somewhere in the mountains just outside of Toad Town. There is a green warp pipe near the entrance to Toad Town close to the library. That will take you to the mountains. The house where your babies are being taken will not be far away. It will be occupied by two Toads. You must tell them to return immediately. They are a part of Lactarius's plan and were knowing and willing conspirators with him once the elf spoke to him."

The Marios grinned and prepared to leave, but Merlon motioned for them to wait. "Wait," he told them. "There is more." The Marios nodded and waited for him to continue. "The one who originally stole your children is also searching for them desperately. You will need to get more items if you wish to defeat him. The reason your children are so essential to the Mushroom Kingdom is because of the powers they will obtain when they touch or use certain items. The secret, however, and you may begin to realize this already, is that all humans can use these items to a degree. You, like them, are special in that you can bring out their full potential. There is a shop on the way to the warp pipe that sells Fire Flowers. Buy some. The Fire Flowers will grant you extra strength and defense while also allowing you to throw fireballs. You will need them for your quest if you are intercepted."

The Marios nodded.

"Two more things," Merlon added. He then stood up and went over to a small cabinet not too far away. Opening it up, he fished inside until he emerged with a parasol almost identical to the one that Luca was currently holding. He then went back to the table and handed it to Mia. "First of all, you will need this. You can disguise yourselves as Lactarius's Mushroom Retainers and can use that authority to tell the would be false parents to report to the castle at once. Since I already have images of these retainers, you won't have to look for them. You can simply use the parasols to make yourselves look like the retainers here. Their names are Hace T. and Tess T." He then reached underneath the table and pulled out a map. "This is a map of the Toad Town Tunnels. Use it to take yourselves to Dry Dry Outpost which lies just beyond Dry Dry Desert. It is a shortcut to the desert where you can go back to the Warp Zone and get back to your world."

The Marios turned to each other and grinned confidently. They were about to go over to the images of the Mushroom Retainers so as to transform themselves into the retainers when Merlon once more told them, "Wait, I almost forgot."

"What is it?" Luca asked, beginning to get annoyed.

"If worse comes to worse and you are caught, you'll need to have an edge in combat, especially if you're forced to fight Sweylin, a skilled magician. I can cast a spell on you that will make you stronger in combat. Do you wish for me to do so?"

The Marios glanced at each other and then nodded vigorously.

"Okay then, stand still and hold on," Merlon said as he raised his hands. The room became dark crystal ball began to glow and he produced a pack of playing cards from his cloak. The cards floated out from his hand and hovered over the two humans as the crystal ball projected images of stars along the walls and the humans. The cards quickly shuffled and floated down onto the humans, making contact with them. They then felt a special power wash over them as sparks came down from the cards and landed on them. After a few seconds, the cards returned to Merlon and he placed them back inside his cloak. The crystal ball's glow then died and the room's lighting became normal once more.

When the spell was finished Merlon asked, "So, how do you feel?"

Taking stock of themselves and throwing a few practice punches and kicks, the Marios answered, "Great. Better than great, even."

"Excellent," Merlon said approvingly. "The spell worked on you even better than expected. The power will only activate once you enter a fight. The spell also has a limited duration so don't dawdle. You don't want it to run out at an inopportune moment."

"Thank you," the Marios said, bowing to the Shaman.

"No thanks needed," Merlon answered. "You are good people and you don't deserve to have your children taken from you by corrupt individuals. You must go now. I sense that the stork will arrive at your babies' new home shortly."

The Marios nodded and went over to the images of the Mushroom Retainers and used their parasols on the images. Once they opened their parasols and magic sprinkled on the images, the images of the humans disappeared and in their place were the images of two Mushroom Retainer Toads. Luca's Toad form had a red and white polka dotted mushroom cap, with a blue vest and brown shoes while Mia's had a pink and white polka dotted mushroom cap with a few locks of blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. They smiled as they faced each other. They then turned back to Merlon and after thanking him once more, they departed from the house and made their way to their right. As they departed, Merlon quietly said, "Good luck Marios. May the Star Spirits be with you."

Outside Merlon's house, the Marios made their way down the street as casually as they could while still hurrying. They knew that they were on the clock so when they spotted the Item Shop, they hurried over to it and checked to see if it was open. They gripped the doorknob and turned it. When it turned, they pushed the door open.

Inside the shop, they found a long counter with merchandise lining it. On the counter, they saw a jar that was labeled 'Fright Jar', a 'POW Block', a Fire Flower, Mushroom, a small yellow sheep-like doll called a Sleepy Sheep, and a jar of orange syrup labeled 'Honey Syrup'. When they had entered, the shop's owner, who had been resting on a bench beside the counter, sprang up and saw the two customers and instantly saluted, saying, "Forgive me, sir and ma'am. Is there anything I can do for you? We have a great selection."

"I'm sorry but we're in a hurry and we know what we need so can we just get what we need?" Mia asked quickly.

"Sure," the shop owner answered. "Normally, you'd have to pay for this stuff but since you're Mushroom Retainers and you're undoubtedly on an important mission, just take what you need. It's on the house."

The Marios' eyes flashed in surprise and appreciation. "Thank you," they managed to stammer. Then, wasting no time, they got to work getting their Fire Flowers and stuffing them into their sack. They made sure to get two for each of them. They then noticed the Sleepy Sheep and the POW Block and pointed to them, asking the owner, "What are these items?"

The owner looked surprised at the question but still entertained his clients, answering, "These are the Sleepy Sheep and the POW Block respectively. The Sleepy Sheep is an item that when used, puts all of your enemies to sleep, assuming they're not immune to being put to sleep. The POW Block is an attack item that when punched, causes an earthquake that hurts any grounded enemy in the vicinity. It won't work on enemies in the air, though, so be careful when you use it. These items are also free for you."

"Thank you," the disguised humans answered. They then took a Sleepy Sheep and a POW Block with them and placed them in their sacks. Once they had taken what they needed, they thanked the shopkeeper and departed.

As they departed, the shopkeeper muttered, "That was strange." He had no idea how strange things were about to get in a few hours.

Back outside, the Marios quickly found the green warp pipe that would lead them to their desired destination. Wasting no time, they proceeded to make their way over to the warp pipe. Mia quickly took a random glance into the sky and thought that she could see a bird-like shape flying up among the stars. It looked to be holding something in its beak. Knowing that they were running out of time, they jumped into the pipe and warped to the hills outside of Toad Town.

The Marios emerged from the pipe and immediately found themselves on a trail surrounded by grass that led further into the hills. They hurried along the trail, scanning the skies for any sign of the stork. They knew that the stork's flying would give it an edge in reaching the false parents' house before they did. Fortunately, they did not see the stork. With hope in their hearts, they proceeded to make their way along the path.

As they proceeded along the path, they eventually came to a house that was shaped like a mushroom. There were lights in the windows, indicating that someone was home. Going up to the house, they went along the short dirt trail leading up to the house. When they arrived at the door, they knocked. When they got no answer, they knocked again. Again, there was no answer. They then knocked a third time.

"Hello? This is Hace T. and Tess T.," Luca called into the house. "We're retainers sent by Lactarius to talk to you. You're needed back at the castle at once."

After a few seconds, the door opened and two humans emerged, one male, the other female, which took the Marios aback. The human male looked to be a fat middle-aged man with brown hair and blue eyes. The female looked to be a middle-aged woman with blonde hair. When they saw the reaction by the 'Toads', they cocked their heads, looking quizzically at them. After a second, they realized why the 'Toads' had given that reaction and said, "Oh, the disguises."

Their human forms then spun around and vanished into a series of magical sparks, instantly being replaced by the forms of two Toads, one male; the other female. The male Toad had brown hair and a green and white polka dotted mushroom cap while the female had a pink and white polka dotted mushroom cap and was wearing a purple sleeveless dress. "What did you need of us?" the male Toad asked.

"Not us; Lactarius," Luca answered.

"He wants you to report back to the castle immediately," Mia added.

"That makes no sense," the female Toad stated eying the 'Toads' suspiciously. "We were told to report here to take custody of two human babies."

"Well something's going on back at the castle and he sent us to tell you to report back immediately," Luca insisted.

"Maybe they got the wrong location," the male Toad concluded.

"Maybe," the female guessed.

After a few seconds, the two Toads nodded and told the humans, "Okay. We'll be on our way. Just make sure that if the babies come here, that you take custody of them. Lactarius said that it was essential that we get them rather than the Koopas."

"Don't worry, we will," Luca said, trying to keep his voice as even as possible.

The other Toads then proceeded to make their way back to the warp pipe. When the Marios were sure that they were gone, they breathed a sigh of relief and dropped the disguises, placing their parasols against the wall in a corner. Now, all they had to do was wait for the stork to arrive.

Each moment that passed for the Marios felt like an eternity as they waited for the stork to arrive with their children. Since it was still dark outside, they turned out the lights and made certain that it looked as if they were either asleep or awaiting delivery. After about a half hour, they heard the telltale flapping of wings get closer. They then heard footsteps arrive at the door and the flapping of wings once more. They knew that their children had arrived.

They quickly turned on the light and rushed over to the door. Opening it, they looked down and saw two babies wrapped in bundles of white cloth. Each baby wore distinctive hats, one with a red hat with an M on it, and the other wore a green hat with an L. They did not need to see the hats to know that these babies were their babies, Mario and Luigi. They each stooped down and picked up their babies, Luca picking up Mario and Mia picking up Luigi, holding them high in the air. Their babies had finally arrived.

"I must say that this is a touching reunion," the Marios soon heard a voice say from a ways away.

Looking forward, the Marios saw Sweylin standing before them, his sword drawn. "However, I must insist that you give me the babies at once."

"That will never happen," Luca growled as he put Mario down in a cradle next to the door. Mia did the same with Luigi.

"Sit tight you two. Once we deal with this guy, we'll be home free," she told the babies in a calming voice.

"I really must insist that you surrender the children to me right now," Sweylin reiterated. "It would be terrible for them to have to see their parents be defeated and possibly die right before their eyes, or worse, have they, themselves, suffer injury due to a battle."

Mia grimaced and then looked back to Luca. Luca then went over to Mario and Luigi and picked them up. He then took them inside and told them, "Don't worry. Mommy and I will deal with this guy and then we'll be back to check on you."

Once he was certain that they would be safe if any battle ensued, he rejoined his wife outside. As he did so, Sweylin scoffed. "If you really cared so much about your children, you would hand them over to me." He then shrugged. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. This battle's outcome is already decided. You have no chance against me whatsoever."

His arrogant statement only caused the humans to grin. "Don't be so sure," Luca retorted.

This actually caused Sweylin to laugh. "Do you two really think that you have a chance against me? I'm a Dark Elf sorcerer. This won't be a battle. It'll be a slaughter! And I'll still get your children."

His statements did nothing to dampen the confidence of the humans. Luca merely replied, "If you're so confident that you can beat us, then do so."

And with that, both he and Mia gripped their Fire Flowers and transformed into Fire Luca and Fire Mia, their clothes becoming red and white. Sweylin's eyes went wide with shock and concern at the humans' sudden transformation. Suddenly, he was no longer so confident that the Marios were as weak as he believed. And they were eager to validate his newfound concerns.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Fire Luca and Fire Mia grinned as they assumed fighter's stances, readying themselves for whatever Sweylin was going to throw at them. Sweylin did likewise, holding out his sword and raising his left hand. A glowing ball of energy formed in front of his hand and soon, a shimmering barrier grew from it. It expanded into the form of a globe until it completely engulfed the elf. Luca and Mia unleashed a hail of orange-red fireballs. No smoke trailed the balls of flame as they shot from the hands of the humans. The balls of flame struck the barrier and exploded, causing the barrier to strain, but it did not break.

"Let me return the favor," Sweylin called as his sword began to glow.

The Marios, realizing that he was about to use a ranged attack, quickly went evasive, darting back and forth as they tried to close the distance with the elf. The elf then thrust his sword forward and unleashed a series of blade-shaped energy blasts. The Marios evaded the first few blasts, the blasts striking the ground either just in front of them or just behind them, detonating and sending up clouds of dirt, but the barrage just kept on coming and they could not evade them all. Eventually, the blasts managed to score hits on the humans, the force of the impacts throwing them off their feet and tossing them through the air. They landed on the ground with a thud, grunting, but still relieved and greatly surprised that they were not dead. In fact, neither of them had even suffered severe injury. Instead, their clothes had simply returned to normal and they were no longer able to throw fireballs. They were normal once more. They began to realize the power that these flowers held. They not only increased their strength and gave them the ability to throw fireballs; they also allowed them to take fatal hits without suffering any injury. They strongly felt that it was a one-time use, though, so they knew that if they took another hit from another barrage, that they would be in trouble.

The Marios quickly studied their options. They each still had one more Fire Flower, as well as the Ice Storm. They wanted to save the Ice Storm for when they lowered Sweylin's shield, though. Judging from the magical barrage he unleashed on them, they felt as if he had more powerful options waiting in the wings in case he needed them. They also had their own firearms, though Mia only had three bullets left, which would be no match against Sweylin's shields. Luca still had a number of shots with his laser pistol, but they knew that it would likely take a lot to be able to pierce the elf's shield.

"Mia, get inside now," Luca directed. "Look for anything that can be used as a weapon. There's no way that those Toads did not have some means of defending our children if the Koopas or anyone else came for them."

Mia nodded and turned, running into the house.

"Coward!" Sweylin called mockingly, grinning as he did so. "You run to hide behind your children and leave your husband to do all the fighting?"

Despite the insult cutting to Mia's heart, she resisted the temptation to prove the elf wrong and continued into the house, praying that her husband would be able to hold his own against the elf. As she entered the house, she quickly scanned for any cabinets that could possibly be storing any items. She and Luca had not had the chance to fully explore the house before the stork had arrived so hoped that if they had any weapons inside, that they would be easy to find. She found a cabinet in the corner but it looked small. She went over to it and pulled the doors open, reaching in and swept everything inside out onto the floor. Fishing through it, all she found were a couple of round badges and a small hammer-shaped badge. Feeling that the Toads would not have a hammer-shaped badge if they did not have a hammer, she continued to search the house for any extra items.

She quickly scanned the rest of the floor for any storage compartments that could possibly store any weaponry. She found a door and opened it, revealing a treasure trove of weaponry and ordnance. She found several Bob-ombs, a large war hammer with a metal head, two green Mushrooms with Us on them, and even two Thunder Rages. It was clear that these Toads had expected someone to try to take the children and she was suddenly thankful that Merlon had had the foresight to suggest that they disguise themselves to get the Toads out of the house. After takig the weapons, she quickly departed the house and went outside to rejoin her husband in battle.

Meanwhile, Luca was doing his utmost to keep Sweylin from either skewering him or blasting him with magic. He was tempted to use his Fire Flower to make himself Fire Luca once more, but he decided against that. He had shown himself to be woefully unable to avoid Luca's magical barrage even while in Fire form, and since he only had one Fire Flower left, he wanted to use it when it would do the most good. Sweylin was making his decision that much harder by rushing towards the human, trying to enter close combat.

The elf raised his sword and attempted to bring it down on Luca's head to cut him in half, but the human was fast enough to avoid the strike. Luca then tried to perform a leg sweep to knock the elf off his feet but his foot merely struck the elf's shield and bounced off of it, the shield shimmering with the hi, something that caused Sweylin's mouth to open in surprise. As Luca's foot was sent shooting in the opposite direction, he was thankful that his foot was not either broken nor that he had torn any ligaments in his leg. Things were looking bad, though, since close combat was no longer an option. He hoped that Mia had found something inside the house and that she was coming out to rejoin him.

Sweylin quickly stepped back and readied himself for another strike against the human. Luca saw him raise his sword and his fingers absently ran over the Dizzy Dial in his sack. Suddenly, a potential plan came to his mind. The Dizzy Dial would almost certainly make Sweylin too dizzy to get a reliable bead on him, but there was also the chance that the dial would not work through the elf's shield. As the elf was running towards him, though, he realized that he had little choice, so he quickly drew out the Dizzy Dial and activated it.

Sweylin's world began to spin and the elf staggered forward, doing his best not to drop his sword. He stumbled to one side and the other as he fired a volley of magical blasts from his sword, trying to score a lucky hit on Luca. As for Luca, he fingered inside his sack once more and remembered the POW Block that he had bought. He berated himself for not thinking of using this item earlier. He took out the block and raised it above his head. The block grew until it had a length and width of about four feet. He then jumped up and struck the block. The ground immediately shook violently for a split second. Waves of energy rocketed through the ground, inflicting damage to anyone and anything in the block's area of effect. Unfortunately for Sweylin, his shield did nothing to protect him from the effects of the POW Block and he fell to the ground, shaking and feeling the hit as his ribs were bruised from the effect. However, the fall did nothing to injure him and his shield had not suffered any damage. More importantly, he was shaking off the effects of the Dizzy Dial. After a few shakes of his head, he could see clearly once more and he grinned as he drew a bead on the human male. Luca grimaced as the elf rose, hoping that the POW Block would have inflicted more damage, if not having outright incapacitated the elf. He then went evasive and grabbed his Fire Flower, activating it and transforming himself into Fire Luca once more.

Once he had transformed, he unleashed a barrage of fire on the elf. The fireballs struck the shield but did little damage to it. He grimaced again. He needed more power if he was going to break through Sweylin's shield. Sweylin quickly retaliated by having electricity crackle in between his fingers. Luca quickly dove to one side a split second before the elf unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts from his fingers. The bolts sailed past Luca, missing him by inches. He rose again to dart out of the way of another barrage of lightning.

"You can't keep this up," Sweylin called out. "You'll eventually tire out and I'll hit you."

"And you'll make a mistake before that happens," Luca retorted.

"Ah, but I have a shield," Sweylin answered coolly. "And you have nothing that will really affect my shield. My shield was designed to stop your laser pistol and it's also effective against your newfound fireballs, too. You have nothing. I only have to get lucky once."

The elf was about to unleash another blast of lightning when a Bob-omb landed close to him and struck his shield, detonating on impact. The explosion caused the shield to flare and the force of the blast sent the elf hurtling through the air. He landed a few feet away and skidded to a halt. While the explosion had not injured him, he clearly felt his shield buckle from the explosion and knew that it would not survive many more blasts like that. He soon felt another thump hit his shield, quickly followed by another explosion. Again, he was sent flying, his shield clearly suffering damage. He landed on his back again. This time, he quickly rose so he could avoid the third bomb. He dove to his side and allowed the explosive to fly past him. Unfortunately, the Bob-omb exploded while in midair and inflicted more damage to his shield. His shield was beginning to flicker and fluctuate. He knew that it would not sustain another hit.

Looking ahead, he saw the woman, Mia, rejoining her husband. She handed him a large hammer, telling him, "Take this. I also found some other weapons." She then handed him some Bob-ombs and a couple of Thunder Rages. He gritted his teeth. Things had just changed significantly.

He quickly chanted a magical spell in his own language. Once he was finished, a metal shield appeared over his left arm. Mia and Luca tossed more Bob-ombs at him, forcing him to dance away from the explosives. He managed to avoid one of them entirely but found himself in the path of another one, which scored a direct hit on his magical energy shield and detonated. The resulting blast sent him skidding backwards and completely collapsed his energy shield as well as inflicting some burns and scratches to his armor and skin as well. He swore at the pain of the burns and scratches. These humans were far more trouble than he had anticipated.

The humans quickly saw that this was their chance to even the fight. Luca charged forward while Mia drew out her last Fire Flower and gripped it tightly, quickly transforming into Fire Mia. As Luca charged the elf, who had raised his sword and shield and assumed a fighter's stance, Mia bombarded him with volley after volley of fireballs, forcing the elf to keep his shield up.

Once Luca reached the elf, he raised his hammer high and attempted to bring it down on the elf's head. Sweylin was too quick, though, and dodged the strike, the hammer hitting the ground with a tremendous thud. Luca gripped the hammer once more and attempted to strike Sweylin again, only to miss and have the elf dance to his rear. Sweylin then thrust the sword towards the human male, but Luca managed to avoid the thrust and swung his hammer. The two weapons collided and the force of the strike was enough to knock the sword out of Sweylin's hand. Sweylin's hand stung from the impact and he went to massage it when he saw the hammer coming towards his head. He reflexively raised his shield to absorb the blow, his reaction time and speed not being great enough to allow him to be certain of being able to avoid the hammer blow.

The hammer struck the shield, a loud clang ringing out over the landscape. Sweylin gave a cry of pain as the force of the impact broke the wooden braces of the shield and severely dented the shield. He also felt, and heard, the crack of bones in his left arm. His left arm was now useless to him in this fight. All he could do was stare at the humans as they neared him, forming up with each other and presenting a united front against him.

"It doesn't have to be like this," Luca called out to the elf. "End this now, Sweylin."

"You won't win this," Mia warned.

"It doesn't matter," Sweylin began in a low voice, looking over his broken and bleeding arm. "You aren't deserving of those children."

"They're our children," Mia exclaimed. "We love them and will nurture them. You have no right to take them from us!"

"It does not matter!" Sweylin reiterated. "They must be raised by the elves! Nothing else will suffice if they are to become heroes! I will never stop until we have them under our guidance and control."

"Did your king order you to do this?" Luca demanded.

"Exion is a fool!" Sweylin cried. "He doesn't have a clue what it will take to save this world from the Elvanheim! I am taking the necessary actions to allow us to save this world!"

"By granting them access by opening a portal between worlds?" Mia challenged.

That only caused Sweylin to grin. He gave no response to her question. He only said, "You will never leave this world with those children."

"We'll see," Mia answered in challenge.

The battle then began anew. Luca and Mia started by unleashing a barrage of fireballs towards the elf. With Sweylin's arm being broken, he was unable to raise his shield to intercept the balls of flame and each one scored a direct hit on him. The balls vanished as they hit him and he gave a grunt with each hit as his clothing began to glow red. Still, the initial barrage was insufficient to put him down permanently.

"What does it take to beat this guy?" Mia wondered aloud as Sweylin grunted and raised his right hand towards them.

The humans quickly scattered as the elf unleashed a stream of flame their way. The flame passed by the humans, not striking them, but they could still feel the heat emanating from the flame. The flames struck the ground and quickly spread out tongues of fire reaching out towards the Marios. Mia glanced at Sweylin and noted that he was moving his uninjured hand, as if guiding the flames. They continued to retreat from the flames as the elf unlashed a barrage of lightning their way, managing to strike them and stun them, but not inflict enough damage for them to be depowered. The humans, however, were not severely hurt, only being stunned for a few seconds before they were able to move. During that time, though, Sweylin changed a quick spell in his alien language. The moment he was finished, he felt the bones in his left arm knit and the wooden braces of his shield repair themselves. After a couple more seconds, he was fully healed and his shield was fully repaired. He then held out his hand and his sword flew into his grasp. The elf grinned. He was back in the fight.

He fought back by pointing his sword at the two humans and unleashing a new volley of magical blasts. The Marios danced away from the blasts, managing to avoid each blast as it struck the ground and threw up clouds of dirt. Luca, knowing that engaging Sweylin in close combat at the moment was a risky proposition at best decided to use his Sleepy Sheep. He drew it out and placed it on the ground. Suddenly, the sheep grew until it was the size of a normal sheep with yellow wool. The sheep began to 'bah' as a stampede of sheep seemingly came out of nowhere and rushed towards the elf. Sweylin was undeterred and unleashed a blizzard of icy magical wind and snow at the sheep. The blizzard engulfed them and encased them in an ice block, which the elf then shattered with a single magical bolt. The humans grimaced. They would have to face him down the old fashioned way. However, they knew that they could not afford to let him raise another shield over himself since they were running very low on items.

To keep that from happening, Mia rushed over to her husband and gave him the hammer-shaped badge, telling him, "Attach it to your hammer!"

Luca immediately slapped the badge to the end of his hammer, where it stuck as if it was magnetically attracted to the hammerhead. As he saw Sweylin beginning to chant and wisps of energy emerge from his body, he slammed the hammer into the ground. When the hammer struck the ground, the ground shook violently. Somehow, both Luca and Mia were able to keep their footing without any problem. The same could not be said of Sweylin. The elf was having trouble keeping his footing and concentrating enough to complete the spell. The Marios' eyes flashed. This was their one chance to take him down with certainty.

Mia drew out one of her two Thunder Rages and used it, placing it on the ground in front of her. It rose into the air and quickly unleashed a vicious volley of lightning bolts on the stricken elf. He raised his metal shield to protect himself from the lightning, something that the humans thought would be suicidal since his shield was metal. However, it must have been some form of magical metal, for the lightning was absorbed into the shield and the shield began to glow. The Marios were not caught off guard by the recent turn of events, though. In fact, they had expected something like this to happen, and now it was Luca's turn to act.

As the lightning rained down upon Sweylin, Luca drew out his sole remaining Ice Storm and, raising it above his head, released it. Immediately an icy wind began to blow and a blizzard of snow soon followed, zeroing in on the elf. Sweylin's eyes went wide with surprise and fear, for he knew that without his magical energy shield that he would be in trouble. He would have to choose his poison, either one of which would be detrimental to his health. He decided that it was best to deal with the lightning now and hope to be able to absorb enough of it into his Mirror Shield and direct it at the Ice Storm, hopefully taking out the Mario parents in the process. Then the elves would have to take care of the Marios to keep them out of the Koopas' clutches and they would hopefully be none the wiser of what had happened here.

He continued to keep his shield raised over his head as he continued to have it catch the Thunder Rage's lightning. However, the blizzard of ice quickly closed in on him and in only a couple of seconds, the first edges of the storm hit. The ambient temperature dropped by at least thirty degrees in fractions of a second. He was then pelted with snow and ice, which stuck to him skin with alarming tenacity, beginning to form sheets on his arms and legs. His armor did little to insulate him from the cold and soon, the blizzard became unbearable. Snow and ice covered his entire body and he could already feel himself getting frostbite. To make matters worse was that the ice was forming a sheet over him and soon, he was entirely encased in the ice. A second later, he was encased in a large block of ice, completely unable to move. Luca then went to finish the fight by grabbing his hammer and rushing over to the frozen Sweylin. Then, with one mighty swing, he brought his hammer down on the ice block. With that single strike, the ice block shattered into countless shards of ice, along with Sweylin. The elf's frozen head flew off his body and came to rest a few feet away. Wanting to make sure that there were no further secrets of the elf, Luca went over to the elf's head and brought his hammer down upon it, shattering his head and truly ending the fight.

Once the fight was over, the Marios waited for a few seconds to see if anything else was coming their way. When they were certain that it was finally over, they relaxed and let out sighs of relief. They then powered down and transformed back to normal, their Fire Flowers appearing in their hands once more. They then to the cradle to check on their babies. When they reached them, they saw that the babies were sleeping soundly. The Marios then knelt down and gently picked them up. Cooing at the babies to keep them calm, they told them, "It's almost over. We're going home now." With that, the Marios made their way back to the warp pipe. Upon arriving at the warp pipe, they jumped in, Luca going first, followed by Mia, and they warped back to Toad Town.

When the parents returned to Toad Town, they considered using their parasols to disguise themselves once more on the off chance that one of the Toads managed to recognize them or though that they looked suspicious. They decided against it, though, feeling that if they were discovered that having magical disguises could do more harm than good. As such, they simply made their way through the town, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

As they entered the main town square, they saw that it was still deserted. Merlon's house seemed to be having some activity, for they could hear sounds and music coming from it. Going over to the billboard near the wizard's house, Luca gave Mario to Mia and pulled out the map of the Toad Town Tunnels that Merlon had given to him. He checked to see where the entrance to the tunnels was located and he found that it was in a section of town just south of the main town square. The pipe was stated to be pretty conspicuous so he suspected that they would have no trouble finding it. He then studied the map so that he would know exactly where to go in order to reach the warp zone. Once he was finished, he rolled up the map and put it away. Mia handed Mario back to him and they proceeded on their way.

They followed the road past Tayce T.'s house and quickly spotted a roadside alcove with a visible pipe. This area of town looked to be as desolate as the last, so they were not too worried about being followed. Besides, if they were, they had their Fire Flowers for offensive power. They made their way to the pipe and proceeded to make their way inside.

They emerged from the pipe in a darkened area. Looking around, they saw drab gray walls and a floor, along with large green pipes running along the ceiling. They could hear the sound of running water and to their right, they spotted what looked to be an underground river. Judging from the amount of garbage in the water, though, they merely believed it to be the Toad Town sewer system. Handing Mario back to Mia, Luca took out the map again to see where they had to go next. There was bridge over the water in front of them that led to a deeper section of the Toad Town Tunnels, but the map indicated that the section they were looking for was actually behind them.

Turning around, they saw a large block jutting out of a doorway that led deeper into the tunnels. "The pipe that leads to Dry Dry Outpost is through that door," Luca told Mia as he drew out his hammer and walked up to the block. Then, with a mighty swing, he shattered the block with one strike, the block breaking into hundreds of smaller pieces. The block's destruction revealed the path ahead and they could already see the blue pipes through the door. Making their way through the debris, they went through the doorway and found themselves in a room with three blue warp pipes.

The moment they stepped into the room, a large white jellyfish-like creature with thick tentacles called a Blooper leapt out from the water and hovered in front of them, barring their way. Luca readied his hammer when a yellowish glow suddenly surrounded the Blooper and electrical sparks began to crackle around the creature. The Marios merely shrugged and Luca gripped his Fire Flower, transforming himself into Fire Luca in order to combat the monster.

The Blooper began the battle by firing a jet of ink towards the human male. Luca immediately went evasive and managed to avoid the spray of ink, the ink striking the ground and splashing in all directions, a large black blot sticking to the ground. Luca retaliated by unleashing a vicious volley of fireballs upon the beast. Despite hovering in the air, the Blooper was unable to evade the fireball volley unleashed its way and Luca scored several direct hits, the monster briefly glowing red with each hit. After several fireball hits, the monster had had enough and retreated into the water once more, swimming away from the Marios as quickly as possible.

With the Blooper defeated, the Marios headed over to the farthest pipe. Luca quickly checked the guide on the map to confirm that this was, indeed, the pipe that would lead to Dry Dry Outpost. Once he had done so, he put the map away and looked over to Mia, nodding.

"After you," he said jokingly.

Mia smiled and stepped forward, jumping into the pipe, the tell tale sound of the pipe's entry echoing throughout the chamber. Then, Luca followed his wife and the family warped to Dry Dry Outpost many miles away.

The Marios emerged from the warp pipe and looked out over the area. They found themselves in the middle of a desert outpost. Several mice-like creatures that looked a lot like overgrown mouse heads with arms and small stubby feet walked about the town, darting from alley to alley. There were also Toads dressed in turbans conversing with each other, too. The Marios studied their surroundings, spotting a building that looked to be an item shop. Wanting to get home as quickly as possible, and confident that their newfound power-ups would allow them to cross the desert with little trouble, they decided to forgo shopping and decided to head straight to the town's gate and follow the trail back to the warp zone.

Once they left the town, they immediately found themselves back in the desert that they had first found themselves in when they had emerged from the Warp Zone. Doing their best to retrace their steps from the day before, they made their way along the desert trail. As they traveled, several bands of Bandits and some Pokeys, yellow, spiky segmented cactus-like enemies accosted them, only to be reduced to ashes by Luca's fireball barrage. After the brief altercation, Luca told Mia, "I'll handle any enemies we come across. You just make sure that the babies remain safe."

Mia nodded and tightly held onto Mario and Luigi as her husband guided them through the desert. Luca tried to remember the trail that they took to reach the road but the desert winds had blown over any footprints that may have been left, and there were no real landmarks that they could use for navigation. The good thing was that the map that they had received indicated that the desert was limited in size, so they would eventually find the pipe that led to the Warp Zone, one way or the other.

As they traveled across the desert, four more Bandits came upon the parents. When they spotted the humans, they grinned, thinking that the humans had a good deal of money on them. "Well, well, well, what have we got here?" one of the Bandits asked.

"It looks like a family," another answered.

"Do you think they've got coins?" a third one asked.

"Let's find out," the fourth one answered with a sinister grin.

Then as one, the Bandits charged the family. Mia stayed back while Luca dealt with the four Bandits. He coolly stepped forward, the Bandits not caring that he was armed with a hammer as he drew it out and brandished it.

"A hammer? Against the four of us?" one of the Bandits mocked, laughing.

The other Bandits then joined the first in his laughter. They then charged straight towards the human. They were taken completely off guard when Luca placed the hammer on the ground, leaning on it, while he launched a vicious barrage of fireballs their way. The first Bandit did not even perceive the threat until was nothing more than ashes. The other Bandits did not last much longer, another one being incinerated in the first volley. A third Bandit was quickly dispatched with a swift fireball barrage while the fourth Bandit attempted to activate a Thunderbolt, only to be incinerated by a fireball.

As for Mia, there were a couple of Bandits that had been a little sneakier. They had patiently waited behind a rock while the first party had attempted to accost the humans. While Luca was fighting off the other Bandits, these two made a beeline straight towards Mia and the babies, figuring that the babies would be worth something on the sentient trafficking black market. Mia saw the two Bandits charging her, though, and glared at them. As soon as they approached, she showed them that she was far from defenseless as she lashed out with a side kick, catching one of the Bandits in the chest, sending him flying. The second Bandit stopped in his tracks, seeing his comrade flying several feet in the air from the kick. That moment of hesitation was his doom as Mia performed a spinning back heel kick on the shocked Bandit. The kick instantly took the Bandit out of the fight, leaving him lying on the ground either severely injured or dead. As for the other Bandit, he was in no condition to continue and he remained on the ground, doing nothing further to present himself as a threat to the human family. Once the Bandits were defeated, the Marios continued on their way.

The family continued to make their way through the desert. As they searched for the warp pipe, the light of dawn began to shine out over the desert. Off in the distance, they caught the gleam of metal. Seeing no better option, the group rushed towards the gleam of metal, which began to take shape as they approached. As they got closer, it was revealed to be a green warp pipe, the very same pipe that they had arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom from. Anticipation flooded through the parents as they rushed towards the pipe. Even so, though, they did not lower their guard. The desert was still crawling with Bandits. However, no enemies accosted them as they went over to the pipe. Once they arrived, Luca grabbed Mario and then jumped into the pipe, followed by Mia and Luigi.

When they emerged from the pipe, they found themselves back inside the Pipe Maze. Before continuing, though, they scanned the dark road ahead. They knew that that Sweylin had followed them to Hylia, so they would not have been surprised to find elves waiting for them along the trail. Despite not seeing anyone, Mia placed Mario down on the ground for a second and gripped her Fire Flower, transforming herself into Fire Mia. She wanted to be ready for whatever awaited them once they returned to Earth. Once they were ready, they made their way down the tunnel and through the Pipe Maze.

The walked down the trail through the Pipe Maze towards the Warp Zone for what seemed like an eternity. After a while, they expected to see a bright white light shine forth in front of them just like what had happened during their trip to Hylia, but the light never came. The memory of the journey to the world of Hylia was fresh in their minds and they knew that it had not taken this long to go from the building's underground tunnel to the pipe. Something was wrong.

"Luca, we should be back on Earth by now," Mia said, wondering, and dreading, why they were still inside the Pipe Maze.

"I know," Luca said in a low voice, echoing his wife's concern.

They considered their options. They could not go back. It would just take them back to the Mushroom Kingdom, which is what Sweylin would have wanted, along with the Koopas, who were still after the babies. There was no way that Kamek would not make another attempt on the children. However, going forward was looking increasingly futile as well. Still, they decided to continue going forward for just a while longer, hoping that they had simply misremembered how long the journey from the tunnel to the pipe that led to Dry Dry Desert had taken.

After about ten minutes of walking, and getting nowhere, they stopped once more. Glancing at their surroundings, they saw that the walls and the direction of the water were identical to the ones that they had seen ten minutes ago. They continued to walk again, this time studying the walls and the water. As they walked, they were able to faintly hear a musical riff that sounded strangely like a song that would be played on a long, endless journey. Sure enough, after less than a minute, they came upon the same walls once more. The same graffiti was pasted on them, and even the same pattern of garbage was in the water.

"It's useless," Mia said with a defeated sigh. "We're going nowhere."

"We're trapped in an endless loop," Luca concluded. "There's nowhere to go except back."

"Are you kidding?" Mia blurted, shocked at what he was suggesting. "The Koopas are still out there! If we go back, they'll be sure to make another attempt on our babies. Not to mention the upheaval that we'll undoubtedly be caught in the middle of with Lactarius's death. We need to be as far away from the Mushroom Kingdom as possible."

"We can't go forward and we can't stay here," Luca countered sagely. "I don't like it anymore than you, but I don't see how we have much choice. Right now, it's the one place that we're familiar with. Besides, maybe Merlon can help us out with this issue."

Mia considered what Luca was saying. She did not like having to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom but she knew that they had little choice at the moment. She then nodded in agreement with her husband. "Okay, we go back and talk to Merlon about this. If anyone knows what's going on here, it'll be him."

Luca agreed and the two then turned around to head back to the warp pipe that would take them back to the Mushroom Kingdom. As they turned around, though, they found themselves staring face to face with an elf in regal gold armor armed with a sword and a shield strapped over his back and a large yellow star with a gray beard floating next to him. They were shocked by the appearance of the elf and Luca immediately raised his right hand and pointed it at the elf, a ball of flame forming in front of his hand. The elf was unconcerned and placed his sword on the ground and raised his hand peacefully.

"Stay your hand, human, I have no quarrel with you, nor do I seek your children," the elf told them evenly.

"Who are you?" Mia demanded.

"My name is Exion," the elf answered. "I am the king of the Dark Elves that reside in the city of Skypolis on the floating island above Hyrule. The being next to me is Eldstar, a Star Spirit from Star Haven."

The star lowered itself before floating back into the air, simulating a bow.

"Are you the one who ordered Sweylin to tell us to come to Hylia?" Mia asked darkly.

Exion shook his head. "No. It appears as if Sweylin did that of his own accord. I did, however, fail in noticing his duplicitous actions until it was already too late. Had he been apprehended, he would have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of our laws."

That did little to gain Mia's sympathy or trust. Luca also eyed the elf warily. Eldstar glanced over to Exion and told him, "They don't trust you."

"They probably shouldn't," Exion replied with a sad shrug. "If I had been more observant or had someone watching over Sweylin, this may not have happened."

"Nevertheless it did," Eldstar stated curtly. "The issue now is to discover why the Warp Zone has been placed in an endless space-time loop."

"And how it was done." the elf king added.

As Exion asked that fateful question, another figure ran out of the darkness behind the elf and Star Spirit. The humans instantly recognized it as being Toadsworth. When he spotted Eldstar and Exion, he immediately stopped, bowed nervously, and said, "Venerable Star Spirit, my apologies for barging in like this."

"No need," Eldsar replied, calming the tense Toad.

Toadsworth then looked past the Star Spirit and elf king and saw the Marios along with their children. "Oh, this is a surprise," he began. "I am glad that you found your children but I had expected you to have returned to Earth already."

"We can't," Luca stated.

"We tried to go through the Warp Zone but when we tried to go through it, we were stuck in the same place over and over again," Mia added.

"Much like the Endless Stairs trap inside the Mushroom Castle," Toadsworth noted.

"What's that?" Luca asked.

"It's a security protocol used when the castle is invaded. We use a number of Power Stars to create an endless loop of the stairway that leads to the top of main tower, a final sanctuary for the king or ruler residing in the castle should it be breached."

"I'm familiar with the spell used to create the Endless Stairs," Eldstar said gravely. "I sense the same exact power used on a section of the Pipe Maze just ahead, only on a much larger scale."

"That's why I came here," Toadsworth began. "I went to Shooting Star Summit to talk to the Star Spirits but they sent me here to see you when I told them that we were missing the Power Stars."

"What are the Power Stars?" Luca asked.

"They are stars that contain great power. They can be used to strengthen magical spells or place barriers on something," Toadsworth explained. "They are usable by both normals and magicians but they can greatly enhance the magical powers of one who wields them. Lactarius was a magician," Toadsworth added cautiously.

"Yes, but I'm also sensing Dark Elf magic as well," Exion added. "Sweylin, or one of his cadre, was here."

"Chances are that they were working together," Mia concluded. "Lactarius had us imprisoned down in his secret hideaway in Toad Town. That would have allowed Sweylin to get our babies without contest."

"Perhaps," Toadsworth said, "but from what my brief investigation found, it seemed as if Lactarius wanted the children to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom, itself."

"That would not have troubled Sweylin," Mia said, thoughtfully. "All he cared about was making sure that our children were raised on the world of Hylia. Just as long as it was neither us, nor the Koopas."

Exion looked downcast, which the others were quick to notice. "Is something wrong sir?" Toadsworth asked.

"How could I have missed it?" Exion asked no one in particular. "He was the Captain of My Guard. I should have known that he was going for your babies," he said, turning to Luca and Mia. "I was so stupid."

"No you weren't," Eldstar said, doing his best to comfort the king. "No one could have known. Sweylin was a powerful magician so he could have easily hidden his true intentions from even the deepest of scans."

"Perhaps," Exion admitted. "But still, it was on my watch. I should have known."

As the Marios listened to the Dark Elf King, their admiration for the man grew. Unlike many others, any wrong that befell his kingdom or was done on his watch he laid right at his feet. Anyway, this was not getting them anywhere.

"Excuse me, but is there any way to reverse the spell?" Luca asked.

"You would need to gather the necessary number of Power Stars that were used to fuel the spell," Eldstar answered.

"That's why I came here to see you," Toadsworth interjected. "The castle's Power Stars are missing."

Eldstar and Exion both gasped. "How many are gone?" Eldstar asked.

"All of them," Toadsworth answered, not bothering to hide his fear.

"How many Power Stars were inside the castle?" Luca asked.

"One hundred and twenty," came Toadsworth's answer.

"Can the spell be undone without the use of the Power Stars?" Mia asked.

"Possibly, but it would require the Star Rod, which we will not risk letting leave Star Haven," Eldstar answered.

Mia's eyes lit up but she kept her voice even. "Why not?"

"Because the Star Rod is a powerful artifact," Eldstar answered.

"It is a match for the Hyrulean Triforce," Exion added. "The Triforce is said to be able to grant the wish of whoever touches it. If they keep it, it will grant them power, wisdom, and skill far beyond their imagining."

"The Star Rod can do the same thing, possibly better," Eldstar stated. "It was designed to be both a support and a counter to the Triforce. If an evil person claimed the Triforce, a good person could claim the Star Rod in order to combat the evil. That also makes the Star Rod a huge target. No one can reach Star Haven without our help, but if we bring the Star Rod here, it would be at risk of being stolen by the forces of evil."

"Why not just have us make the wish there?" Luca asked.

"Because I don't think that it would work," Eldstar answered. "We can try, but I feel as if this spell has more power than we can sense. Something else is at work here, something sinister. The only way to reliably reopen the Warp Zone will be to get those Power Stars."

"Well anyway, there's no use dawdling here," Mia concluded. "Let's get to Star Haven and see if we can wish it open."

Seeing nothing better to do, Eldstar nodded and told them, "Follow me. I'll take you on a shortcut to Shooting Star Summit."

The humans nodded and eagerly followed the Star Spirit. After they had left, Toadsworth was about to leave when he saw Exion walking towards the looped Warp Zone with an absent look on his face.

"Is everything okay, sir?" the Toad asked.

The question broke the elf king out of his reverie and he turned back to Toadsworth, asking, "What was that?"

"I asked if you were okay."

"I'm fine," the elf answered distantly. "It's just that I sensed a familiar power woven in this spell in addition to the star power."

"What power is that?"

"I don't know for sure," Exion answered. "But whatever it is, it's not good."

With that last statement, the elf king turned and made his way towards another section of the Pipe Maze, likely to a location that would lead back to Skypolis. Once the elf king had departed, Toadsworth took one last look down the tunnel and then turned and made his way back through the maze, back to the pipe that led to Dry Dry Desert. He had to get back to the castle to make his report to the nobles and the Toad Minister.

Meanwhile, over in the Koopa Kingdom, Kamek and Kammy were making their reports to King Morton Koopa, who was sitting on a large golden throne. Near the entrance to the castle's throne room, two Koopatrols armed with rifles stood watch as the two Magikoopas unenthusiastically made their dire report to the king. The Koopa King had not been pleased at the report of the loss of an airship, nor for the fact that the Marios were still alive and the babies were safely with their parents.

"You reported to me about these children and the danger they pose to the future of this kingdom, specifically to my son, Bowser," the Koopa King began. "But just as you find the parents and are about to deal with them, they hand you the best of both worlds to you on a silver platter, giving you a chance to rescue the children and have the parents become allies of our kingdom. AND YOU SCREW IT UP BY TRYING AND FAILING TO KILL THEM!" the king roared so loudly that the castle began to shake and his guards retreated into their shells.

"But my liege, the plan was sound," Kammy retorted, shivering.

"And besides, the parents would never have remained allies with the Koopa Kingdom," Kamek added more calmly. He had been on the receiving end of Morton's wrath before so this was nothing new to him. Strangely enough, his concern was for Kammy, who while he had no real attachment to, was still a powerful Magikoopa and would be useful to future endeavors.

"Yeah, now that you tried to kill them!" Morton retorted.

"The humans are good people," Kamek answered. "They would have taught their children the difference between right and wrong; good and evil. That is why we could not allow the parents to live."

"I have no problem with you trying to take out the parents," Morton answered. "The issue is that you failed. You had the resources of an entire airship and a castle and two humans managed to defeat you and destroy an airship."

"I can't help it if my soldiers don't perform their duties properly," Kamek answered. "Kammy's plan would have worked if the disguised Koopatrols had managed to kill the humans."

"But they didn't," Morton retorted. "And now, the humans know that you have it in for them and have your eyes on their babies. They'll take precautions against you taking them again."

"Perhaps," Kamek answered. "But we do have one piece of good news. That Dark Elf that was working with King Lactarius used the Power Stars to seal the Warp Zone. The humans aren't going anywhere."

"Which brings me back to another point," Morton said, glaring at Kamek. "You had the gall to kill Lactarius, committing an act of war against the Mushroom Kingdom in the process! I mean, why?!"

"I was hoping to kill the parents after making it look like they were the ones who killed Lactarius. I would then intercept the babies once more after the stork delivered them to the foster parents, kill the foster parents, and then we would have the children, with it looking like the Toads killed their parents."

"And you screwed that up, too," Morton roared, barely able to contain himself. "If Bowser didn't like you so much, I'd have you sent to the dungeon for a few months for your failure."

"Sire…"

"Get out of my sight before I change my mind!" Morton roared. "Both of you!" he added, looking back at Kammy.

The Magikoopas then bowed and quickly retreated from Morton and exited the throne room. After exiting the throne room, Kammy made her way to the wall to try to get some fresh air while Kamek returned to his chamber, making his way past several Koopa Troopas that snickered as they saw his expression, the Koopa Troopas correctly figuring that he had been reamed by Morton.

When he entered his chamber, he went over to a bench and sat down, heaving a great sigh.

"Well, it looks like things did not go as planned," came a sinister voice from the darkness.

Kamek looked towards a bowl standing on a tall, narrow table and soon, a shadow formed inside the bowl. The shadow looked like a silhouette of a large Koopa with a spiky shell. The Magikoopa made his way over to the bowl and bowed. "Master," he began. He then paused before continuing, "You are correct. The parents have their children and our attempts to gain hold of them have failed."

"Perhaps," the voice said. "But don't concern yourself with it too much right now. We will have other opportunities. After all, the Warp Zone is closed to them so they are trapped here."

"Only if they don't get the Power Stars," Kamek answered, sighing.

"They would not do so if it meant leaving their children unprotected," the voice answered.

"True," Kamek said. "But there's no way Morton is going to give me the resources to go after those children again. He just can't see the danger that those children pose. If he doesn't change his mind, we may have to do something more drastic to ensure that Bowser comes to power and isn't constantly defeated by the Marios."

"We can deal with Morton later. He still has his uses," the voice answered. "Killing him is not the answer, yet."

"Then what should I do?" Kamek asked.

"Do your duty to Bowser and Morton," the voice answered. "And keep your eyes and ears open. There will be opportunities to either take the children, or kill them if worse comes to worse."

"Yes, my lord," Kamek answered, bowing. With that, the Magikoopa leader went back to work, studying spells and preparing lessons for Prince Bowser.

As for Luca and Mia when they arrived at Star Haven and were taken to the Star Rod, where Luca made the wish for the Warp Zone to open to them, him wanting to make the wish then on the chance that it would fail and Mia would be able to make a wish of her own should they only be allowed one wish. Much as Eldstar had suspected, the wish failed to open the Warp Zone. However, the wish had managed to expose the power that Exion had felt while in its presence. The sensation of the power greatly disturbed the Star Spirits, for they recognized it as being the same power as the power of the Hyrulean gods. With that power coursing through the portal, it would take the Power Stars' direct interaction with the loop in order to allow passage back to Earth.

With the chance of opening the portal by means of the Star Rod no longer being an option, Mia then wished for the locations of the missing Power Stars as well as a map to their locations to be revealed. This time, though, the Star Rod was able to grant the wish just as requested. A device immediately appeared in Mia's hands that looked strangely like a compass. Also, several maps appeared in her hands. The maps showed the general location of the Power Stars and how many stars were located in each section indicated. The Marios' eyes went wide when they saw how far throughout the kingdom each of the stars had been spread. Even worse was that several of the stars were likely going to be found by others, so it would be difficult to find them all quickly. Still, the Marios at least had the beginnings of a lead, though they knew that they would need more to go on for any stars that had been found before they got to them. As such, they decided to find a house to live in for a while until they could find all of the Power Stars.

Once they were finished in Star Haven, they made their way back to Toad Town, where they met with Toadsworth and explained the situation to him. They also showed him the maps and he gave a whistle upon seeing them. It would take them a while to find all of the stars, especially if they had been discovered by others. The stars would be seen as highly valuable and would fetch a high price on the open market as well as the black market. As it was, though, the Marios knew that they would need to have a place to live while they went about searching for the stars.

Toadsworth was more than kind enough to allow them to have a house. He even let them have it for free. It was a small mushroom-shaped house in the hills not too far away from the house that the stork had delivered the babies to, and where the Marios had fought Sweylin. When they arrived, they took one look at the house and nodded approvingly. The first thing they did was go to the babies' bedroom and examine it. It was furnished with a crib and several bookcases that were full of children's books. The Marios smiled. They did not expect to remain here for too long, but they were happy that there would be education tools that could be used to teach their children if they had to remain in the Mushroom Kingdom longer than expected. They then laid the babies in the crib and Luca went to check out the rest of the house while Mia stayed with the babies. After a couple of minutes, he returned and the parents remained with their children watching over them throughout the night.

After a couple of weeks, the Marios were beginning to settle into their new house and it gradually became a home. Things in the Mushroom Kingdom, however, were far less serene. News about Lactarius's death sent shockwaves throughout the kingdom, but it was the circumstances surrounding it that almost brought the kingdom to its knees. After examining the video, the Toad Minister and the rest of the nobles decided that it was best that everyone know the truth about Lactarius's fate and how he had died. As soon as the video showing Lactarius's death at the hands of Kamek was shown, as well as his imprisonment of the Marios under false pretenses was revealed, the kingdom almost went into shock. The scandal that resulted was covered over all of the news outlets. It became worse in that the kingdom was beginning to become divided. Some wanted revenge on the Koopas for Lactarius's death, regardless of his crimes, while others were either too scared of the Koopa Kingdom to want to do anything, or felt that Lactarius's actions made it so that while his death was clearly a sign of aggression, that not responding did not necessarily show weakness, but that they were taking a stand for justice and would not avenge someone who would imprison parents so he could take their children.

The scandal had other effects as well. Lactarius had not been alone in his plans, either. While his plan to help Sweylin kidnap the children was spur of the moment, there was video evidence that he was in league with the elf. The Marios had even been called to testify before a committee as to what Sweylin had done and what the elf's plans had been. They answered as honestly as possible but even they were confused by the elf's plans, had they been to keep the Marios out of the hands of The Enemy or any other evil, for as they had told Kamek, as the children grew, they would ask questions and if they discovered that any of the answers were lies, then that could spell trouble for those trying to control the Mario children.

All of Lactarius's closest advisors, those who were found to have been in on the plan, were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms. Even the Toads who had been chosen to be the Mario babies' new adoptive parents were called before a committee. While they contended that they knew nothing of Lactarius's plot, secret documents revealed that they, indeed, were complicit in the attempt to take the Mario children away from their parents. In the end, though, justice was done.

After the investigations were over, all that was left was to settle on who would become the new king. Since Lactarius had no siblings and no children, legitimate or otherwise, as well as the fact that he had been disgraced, a council of nobles decided that it would have to find a new king. Still, despite Lactarius's disgrace, they did not want to deviate too far from the royal bloodline. As such, they selected one of his third cousins, Shroomgus. Shroomgus was known for his honesty and honor, as well as being wise and kind. The only issue was that he was also young, barely the equivalent of twenty-five years old. Still, with advisors like Toadsworth the council and Toad Minister felt as if the fate of the Mushroom Kingdom was in good hands and there was a massive celebration outside of the castle when it was announced that Shroomgus would be the new king.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, in their quaint house, the Marios were sitting at the table during dinner one evening, the babies playing in a playpen not too far away. They had been going over the maps of the Mushroom Kingdom and the general locations of the Power Stars. They were planning on starting their quest as soon as possible. They had agreed that Luca was going to be the one to actively search for the stars while Mia stayed home with the children. Luca could use his job as a plumber to look less out of place in the Mushroom Kingdom, especially if he had to go anywhere where any potential remaining supporters of Lactarius had been spotted and while Mia was an excellent fighter, herself, they felt that at least one of them had to be with the children at all times. They would not risk allowing another kidnapping.

Luca was reading the paper, which detailed the crowning of Shroomgus as the new King of the Mushroom Kingdom. Luca smiled as he read that Shroomgus was Lactarius's third cousin and had not been liked by the previous king. He then put the paper down and watched his babies play in the playpen. Mia went over to him and smiled as they held hands and watched their children play.

"So, when they grow up, what are we going to tell them?" Mia asked her husband.

"The truth," Luca answered plainly. "The whole truth."

"Do you think that they'll resent the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Elves?" Mia asked, her concern being evident. While she had no care for Lactarius or any of his supporters, she had liked Toadsworth and respected Exion, who had maintained contact with them and was offering them any help they needed.

"I don't know," Luca answered with a shrug. "One thing I do know is that if we raise them right, that they will have every opportunity to turn out to be good people. Hopefully, though, we'll be out of here before they get too old."

Mia nodded and laughed. Still, she felt that once they left that a part of her would miss the Mushroom Kingdom. Life here was simpler and it was quieter than the big city of New York. She then went over to her babies and scooped them into her arms, kissing each of them once on the forehead. "You will be great men when you grow up," she cooed into their ears.

Mario stared at her and smiled at her statement. "No matter what happens, know this: we are your parents, and we will always love you," she added.

"Always," Luca added with a smile.

Mia then placed the children back into the playpen, where they continued their little game, playing with the rattles inside the pen. Mario was already looking at each rattle and looking for ways to disassemble it and put it back together, prompting laugh from the parents. Luigi looked to be a little more cautious but Mario handed him his own rattle, giving off a little chirp, indicating that Luigi should play with it. Eventually, Luigi decided to examine it, too, and the parents could only smile. Luca gave a grin.

"Looks like the family business will continue after all," he said approvingly, as he sat with his wife and they held each other for the remainder of the evening.


End file.
